LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  QF 
CALIFORNIA 

I      SAN  DIEGO       ! 


1 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS  CAPEN 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS  CAPEN 


by 
CHAUNCY  J.   HAWKINS 

Author  of    :    The  Mind  of  Whittier    :    Will  the  Home  Survive 
The  Ned  Brewster  Books    :    Etc. 


THE     PILGRIM      PRESS 

BOSTON        !        NEW    YORK        :        CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1914 

by 
Luther  H.  Cary 


THE  PILGRIM  PRESS 
BOSTON 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I    His  PLACE  IN  OUR  TIME 1 

II    THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MAN 9 

III  BUSINESS  CAREER 22 

IV  PRESIDENT    OF    THE     CONGREGATIONAL    SUNDAY 

SCHOOL  AND  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY    ...  32 

V    THE  BOSTON  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE  ....  53 

VI    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOSTON  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE    .  79 

VII    IDEALS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 95 

VIII    INTERNATIONAL  ARBITRATION         ....  Ill 

IX    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BOARD    .        .        .  127 

X    MAKING  DENOMINATIONAL  HISTORY     .        .        .  153 

XI    THE  LAYMEN'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT        .        .  164 

XII    WELLESLEY  COLLEGE  AND  OTHER  ACTIVITIES        .  179 

XIII  THE  JOURNEY  ABROAD 193 

XIV  THE  FUNDAMENTAL  MOTIVE 227 

XV    CHARACTERISTICS     .        .        .        .        .        .        .  236 

XVI    THE  LAST  DAYS  AND  RESUME  248 


CHAPTER  I 
HIS  PLACE  IN  OUE  TIME 

Some  men  are  great  because  of  certain  powers 
they  possess  within  themselves.  Others  are  great 
and  are  remembered  by  posterity  because  of  what 
they  have  accomplished.  Homer,  Dante,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  were  great  souls  apart  from  anything 
they  did;  they  possessed  that  divine  gift  we  call 
genius  and  they  belong  by  birth  to  the  immortals. 
Others  are  not  great  either  by  virtue  of  their 
intellect  or  imagination,  but  impelled  by  their  con- 
secration to  some  fine  ideal  they  accomplish  im- 
portant results  which  compel  us  to  hold  them  in 
loving  remembrance.  They  are  great  because  of 
what  they  do. 

In  this  latter  class  we  must  place  Samuel 
Billings  Capen,  a  man  who  belonged  to  what  may 
be  truly  called  the  new  Christianity  and  who 
brought  about  results  that  have  made  a  distinct 
impression  upon  the  social  and  religious  life  of 
our  time. 

The  excuse  for  adding  another  biography  to  the 
many  that  have  come  to  our  generation  is  that  Mr. 
Capen  stood  for  an  ideal  which  is  becoming  in- 
creasingly the  glory  of  the  Christian  Church,  an 
ideal  which  is  saving  the  Church  from  the  shame 
which  had  come  upon  her  and  promises  to  make 
her  the  most  glorious  of  all  the  institutions  of  to- 
morrow. To  call  our  age  materialistic  is  far  from 

[l] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

the  truth.  Our  age  is  in  some  respects  the 
most  idealistic  of  all  times.  The  fight  for  social 
righteousness  has  never  enlisted  so  many  brave 
hearts  nor  been  so  intense  as  at  the  present  hour. 
The  cry  for  economic  justice  and  for  a  more  demo- 
cratic method  both  in  the  production  and  the 
distribution  of  wealth,  the  demand  for  civic  right- 
eousness, for  the  substitution  of  arbitration  for 
war,  for  the  promotion  of  peace  and  good  will  be- 
tween nations,  and  the  growing  consciousness  of 
the  need  for  the  brotherhood  of  rich  and  poor,  em- 
ployer and  employed,  have  never  been  so  intense 
or  persistent.  Editors,  lecturers,  social  workers 
and  clergymen  have  all  become  preachers  whose 
gospel  is  that  of  the  social  uplift. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  fact,  it  is  also  probably  true 
that  there  were  never  more  men  living  on  the  out- 
side of  things  than  at  the  present  hour.  The  great 
springs  of  life  are  not  only  neglected;  they  are 
mistrusted.  The  confidence  of  man  is  placed  in 
the  dollar  rather  than  in  ideals,  in  material  con- 
ditions and  comforts  rather  than  in  the  soul  of 
Christianity.  Men  are  living  by  bread  alone 
rather  than  by  the  words  that  proceed  out  of  the 
mouth  of  God.  They  deem  it  much  more  impor- 
tant to  "get  in  on  the  ground  floor"  of  a  paying 
business  than  to  spend  time  in  the  Upper  Room, 
and  consider  it  more  worth  while  to  stand  among 
many  with  the  winning  interests  than  to  stand 
alone  with  God. 

This  subtle  distrust  in  idealism,  though  few  men 
will  confess  to  it,  gives  form  today  to  the  working 
creed  of  the  vast  majority  of  men.  It  is  at  bottom 

[2] 


HIS   PLACE   IN   OUE   TIME 

a  positive  belief  that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are 
impossible  for  practical  use  in  the  realm  of  affairs. 
They  are  humanity's  most  beautiful  dream,  but 
they  cannot  be  applied  to  business  nor  to  the  prac- 
tical politics  of  the  world.  They  are  man's 
comfort  and  inspiration,  but  they  are  also  his 
despair,  having  no  place  in  a  labor  union,  in 
an  employer's  office  or  on  either  side  of  the 
salesman's  counter. 

Robert  Ingersoll's  crass  infidelity  and  Tom 
Paine 's  open  attacks  upon  Christianity,  compared 
with  this  unconfessed  but  ever  active  distrust  in 
the  things  of  the  spirit,  were  only  as  the  attack 
of  a  child,  compared  to  this  mighty  menace  to  the 
higher  life.  The  former  were  open  and  answer- 
able; the  latter  is  hidden  and  cannot  be  reached. 
It  makes  no  parties  and  draws  no  credal  lines,  but 
permeates  to  a  greater  or  smaller  extent  the  whole 
of  society,  not  only  taking  from  the  soldier  his 
vitality,  but  also  weakening  the  very  purpose  for 
which  he  is  to  fight. 

It  is  a  form  of  unbelief,  also,  which  is  quite  as 
common  in  the  Church  as  outside  of  it.  It  often 
blinds  the  Church  to  its  real  work,  frequently 
substituting  the  task  of  building  up  a  great  ec- 
clesiastical organization  for  the  Christian  task  of 
bringing  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth.  If 
careful  investigation  of  the  real  state  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  should  be  made  there  might  be  wail- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth.  How  many  men  would 
be  found  who  give  liberally  for  the  building  up 
of  a  large  membership  and  for  strengthening  the 
material  conditions  of  a  church  as  an  institution 

[3] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

but  have  never  tried  the  simple  experiment  of  ap- 
plying the  teaching  of  Jesus  to  the  politics  of  their 
community,  or  to  the  industry  in  which  they  are 
engaged?  How  many  men  would  be  found  who 
not  only  have  never  tried  these  experiments  but 
who  do  not  believe  that  they  would  be  practical 
experiments  to  try?  Should  the  investigation  be 
made,  the  world  might  be  astonished  to  discover 
that  thousands  of  men  are  giving  money  and 
energy  to  maintain  an  institution  which  has  never 
yet  seriously  undertaken  the  real  task  given  to 
it  by  its  Lord,  and  chiefly  for  the  reason  that  the 
members  of  the  Church  do  not  believe  that  the 
task  is  practical. 

This  weakened  form  of  Christianity  is  not  wholly 
to  be  condemned.  Even  in  its  anaemic  condition 
it  is  still  probably  the  best  thing  that  is  in  opera- 
tion for  the  uplift  of  mankind.  In  spite  of  the 
subtle  unbelief  of  confessed  Christians  and  the 
gross  materialism  of  the  Church,  the  spirit  of  Je- 
sus has  permeated  and  transformed  the  institu- 
tions of  society  and  the  moral  life  of  nations  as 
has  the  life  of  no  other  man.  If  we  should  take 
out  of  our  civilization  what  we  have  received 
from  Christianity  there  would  be  nothing  left  of 
those  things  we  value  most  highly.  Our  standards 
of  morality,  the  conception  of  the  family,  the  sac- 
rificial life  of  the  home,  the  democracy  based 
upon  the  principle,  "to  every  man  according  to 
his  need,  from  every  man  according  to  his 
ability, ' ' — especially  as  it  is  revealed  in  our  public 
school  system, — the  wise  and  loving  care  for  the 
poor — these  are  things  that  have  gradually 

[4] 


HIS   PLACE   IN   OUR   TIME 

emerged  from  Jesus'  teachings  of  love  and 
brotherhood. 

It  might  be  argued  that  this  uplift  has  come 
from  the  irresistible  life  of  Jesus  much  as  the  sun 
sends  its  cleansing  light  throughout  the  earth, 
rather  than  from  any  positive  program  on  the 
part  of  his  followers ;  and  some  might  even  con- 
tend that  it  has  come  in  spite  of  the  blunders  and 
unbelief  of  his  disciples.  Yet  either  position 
would  do  a  cruel  injustice  to  the  long  succession 
of  consecrated  men  and  women  who,  according  to 
their  knowledge  and  so  far  as  they  have  been  able 
to  rise  above  their  environment,  have  tried  to  be 
true  members  of  the  Church. 

When  this  is  admitted,  however,  it  must 
still  be  confessed  that  men  have  never  un- 
dertaken, on  any  large  scale,  the  real  pro- 
gram marked  out  by  our  Lord  for  his 
Church.  Contented  to  have  the  leaven  slowly  per- 
meate the  entire  lump,  they  have  neither  had  the 
courage  to  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  nor 
the  faith  to  believe  that  their  prayer, ' '  Thy  King- 
dom come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven," 
would  find  any  answer. 

The  last  century,  especially  the  later  half  of  it, 
witnessed  the  rise  of  a  new  class  of  men  who  be- 
lieved that  the  social  world  could  be  won  for 
righteousness,  and  despised  the  whimpering  atti- 
tude of  those  who  declared  that  the  moral  ideal  is 
only  a  dream,  impossible  of  realization  in  the  poli- 
tics and  business  of  mankind.  They  not  only 
declared  the  possibility  of  this  realization  but 
seriously  undertook  the  task  of  carrying  their 

[51 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

idealism  into  political  action  and  making  it  the 
very  soul  of  the  corporate  life  of  society. 

One  division  of  this  army,  bent  upon  the  task  of 
making  a  new  earth,  included  the  social  workers — 
the  men  and  women  who  were  pioneers  in  social 
settlements  and  reform  movements — and  the  au- 
thors of  those  works  which  might  roughly  be  clas- 
sified as  the  new  sociology.  "With  a  large  part  of 
these  sincere  and  passionate  souls  the  religious 
message  was  entirely  omitted.  Some  of  them  were 
men  who  had  grown  weary  of  the  platitudes  of  a 
lifeless  orthodoxy  which  was  only  waiting  to  be 
buried.  They  had  lost  their  faith  in  the  Church  and 
had  left  her  that  they  might  devote  their  energies 
to  a  field  where  they  thought  they  could  be  of  more 
service  to  mankind.  Some  of  these  social  work- 
ers not  only  left  the  Church,  but  even  lost 
their  faith  in  religion  and  turned  their  attention 
to  ethics  as  the  force  that  could  redeem  the 
world. 

A  second  class  of  men,  however,  remained  in 
the  Church.  They  saw  her  defects  but  they  be- 
lieved that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  afforded  the 
only  program  for  the  reformation  of  the  social 
structure,  and  they  consecrated  their  energies  to 
the  bringing  upon  earth  of  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
as  exemplified  in  the  life  of  Jesus  and  defined  in 
his  teachings.  To  them  ethics  without  religion 
was  like  an  engine  without  steam,  and  to  fail  to 
utilize  the  teachings  of  Jesus  was  to  ignore  the 
highest  ideals  that  had  ever  been  given  to  the  race. 
Some  of  these  leaders  were  clergymen  and  some 
were  laymen;  some  held  the  new  theology  and 

[6] 


HIS   PLACE   IN   OUR   TIME 

others  held  only  a  modified  form  of  the  old  New 
England  theology,  remaining  conservative  in  their 
thinking  and  following  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 
But  they  were  united  by  a  great  motive,  the  desire 
to  make  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  the  Kingdom 
of  our  Lord. 

To  this  latter  class  belonged  the  layman  and 
business  man,  Mr.  Samuel  Billings  Capen.  He  re- 
mained to  the  last  day  of  his  life  a  conservative 
in  theology,  though  with  a  sympathy  broad  enough 
to  tolerate  the  most  liberal  wing  of  his  Church, 
but  the  passion  of  his  soul  was  to  bring  the  King- 
dom of  God  on  the  earth.  He  had  an  interest  in 
every  social  movement  for  the  improvement  of 
the  race,  but  he  gave  his  time,  money,  energy,  and 
prayers  that  Jesus  and  his  teachings  might  rule 
the  hearts  of  all  men  and  become  the  life  of  all 
institutions. 

In  speaking  before  a  company  of  boys  in  1893 
Mr.  Capen  said:  "If  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  one 
earnest  word  it  is  this,  that  you  should  all  have 
some  great,  noble,  unselfish  ambition  as  the  ruling 
motive  of  your  life.  To  have  an  education  with- 
out this  is  like  having  a  well-appointed  steamship 
without  power,  and  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  every 
current  of  the  ocean.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has 
well  said  that  the  human  race  is  divided  into  two 
classes,  those  who  go  ahead  and  do  something,  and 
those  who  sit  still  and  inquire,  'Why  wasn't  it 
done  the  other  way?'  Take  your  place  in  the 
former  class  at  once.  Do  not  waste  your  time  in 
criticizing  other  people,  but  day  by  day  be  per- 
sistent in  your  purpose  to  make  the  world  better 

[7] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

because  of  your  living  in  it.    'It  is  not  failure  but 
low  aim  that  is  a  crime. ' 

This  was  not  only  his  advice  to  others ;  it  was 
also  the  law  of  his  own  life  from  which  he  never 
departed.  The  purpose  which  ruled  his  entire 
being  was  none  other  than  to  conquer  the  whole 
world  for  God  and  truth.  He  believed  it  could  be 
done  and  to  this  sublime  task  he  devoted  all  his 
energies. 


[8] 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  MAN 

Mr.  Samuel  Billings  Capen  was  born  in  Boston 
on  December  12,  1842,  in  a  humble  home  which 
stood  near  the  sea,  on  the  very  spot  where  the 
South  Union  Station  now  stands. 

It  is  difficult  for  those  who  know  only  the  Bos- 
ton of  today  to  imagine  even  imperfectly  the  city 
into  which  this  boy  was  born.  James  Elliot  Cabot, 
in  his  "Memoirs  of  Emerson,"  gives  a  touch 
which  brings  to  our  imagination  in  some  measure 
the  section  near  the  home  of  the  Capens:  "The 
Summer  Street  region  was  a  boy's  paradise,  and 
echoed  every  holiday  afternoon  and  mid-day 
recess  with  'Coram'  and  'Hy-spy';  having 
just  the  right  admixture  of  open  ground, 
fences,  and  thoroughfares,  with  intricacies 
and  lurking-places  of  sheds  and  woodhouses,  and 
here  and  there  a  deserted  barn,  with  open 
doors  and  a  remnant  of  hay  long  untouched. 
There  was  even  a  pond  where  a  beginner  might 
try  his  first  skates;  and  the  salt  water  was  close 
by,  with  wharves  where  he  might  catch  flounders 
and  torn-cod.  Then,  near  at  hand,  the  Common, 
at  that  time  a  playground  from  end  to  end. ' ' 

Boston  was  then  a  big  town  with  lineaments 
which  could  be  recognized,  not  only  affording  the 
opportunities  of  natural  playgrounds  and  country 
life,  but  also — what  was  even  more  important  to 

[9] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

her  citizens — nurturing  a  community  spirit.  She 
had  not  grown  so  large  as  to  become  impersonal — 
merely  a  place  where  men  carry  on  their  business, 
and,  if  they  are  greedy  and  selfish,  live  by  head 
alone,  using  the  city  as  a  means  of  adding  a  little 
cake  to  their  diet.  She  was  still  small  enough  to 
have  a  distinct  individuality.  Though  not  with- 
out her  rogues,  she  contained  an  unusually  large 
number  of  men  and  women  who  were  proud  of  her 
history,  knew,  at  least,  what  her  charter  was, 
were  familiar  with  the  chief  problems  she  had  to 
confront  and  considered  it  their  moral  obligation 
to  devote  a  part  of  their  energy  to  her  improve- 
ment. Her  personality,  as  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  in 
his  '"Early  Memories"  has  suggested,  "may  have 
been  narrow,  austere,  at  times  even  harsh,  but  it 
was  there,  and  it  was  strong  and  aggressive,"  a 
personality  which  inspired  a  devoted  citizenship 
of  the  highest  type. 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  Samuel 
Capen,  a  sensitive  youth,  was  born  into  such  an  at- 
mosphere. Boys  then  were  not  very  different 
from  boys  of  our  day.  Fierce  combats  were  waged 
every  winter  on  the  Common  between  the  young 
giants  of  South  Cove  and  North  End  and  the  aris- 
tocrats of  Summer  and  Beacon  Streets,  until  the 
aristocrats,  as  is  always  the  case,  were  outnum- 
bered and  driven  back  in  defeat  into  more  se- 
cluded country  places.  Neighbors'  apple  trees 
were  raided  every  fall  and  the  beautiful  flowers  of 
carefully-prepared  gardens  disappeared  in  a 
night.  There  was  then,  as  in  every  time,  a  great 
mass  of  unimpressionable  dullness  which  no  in- 

[10] 


THE    MAKING   OF   THE    MAN 

fluence  could  awaken;  but  no  boy  who  was  alert, 
possessing  intellectual  promise,  could  grow  to 
young  manhood  in  these  surroundings  without 
gaining  the  consciousness  that  he  had  a  history 
and  was  part  of  a  community.  It  was  an  atmos- 
phere that  left  a  deep  impression  upon  the  young 
Capen,  an  influence  he  never  escaped ;  and  it  later 
revealed  itself  in  his  efforts  toward  civic  reform 
as  well  as  in  his  devoted  citizenship. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  he  was  part  of  a 
family  as  well  as  of  a  community.  We  are  con- 
stantly tempted  to  think  of  men  as  individuals,  as 
isolated,  great  or  small  in  their  lonely  personali- 
ties. But,  in  reality,  no  man  so  exists.  At  best 
every  personality  belongs  to  that  glorious  trinity 
of  father,  mother  and  child.  Part  of  that  social 
trinity  we  remain,  never  being  in  any  true  sense 
individuals,  but  always  part  of  a  larger  whole. 
Hence  nothing  could  be  more  important  to  a  man 
than  the  family  that  gave  him  existence. 

In  this  respect  Samuel  Capen  was  fortunate. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  Samuel  Childs  Capen 
and  Anne  Billings  Capen.  The  Capen  family  had 
long  been  connected  in  honorable  ways  with  Bos- 
ton and  its  vicinity.  Samuel  B.  Capen  belonged  to 
the  eighth  generation  from  Bernard  and  Jane 
Capen,  who  came  to  Dorchester  in  the  ship  Mary 
and  John,  May  30, 1630,  and  were  the  progenitors 
of  all  the  Capens  in  New  England.  His  great- 
grandfather, Christopher  Capen,  who  lived  at 
Stoughton  and  married  Abigail  Thayer,  a  direct 
descendant  of  John  Alden  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  rushed  into  his  house  at  the  time  of  the 

[11] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

battle  of  Lexington,  exclaiming,  "The  war  has 
broken  out,"  took  down  his  gun  and  ran  without 
another  word  to  the  defense  of  his  country.  But 
it  was  so  far  to  Lexington  that  he  did  not  reach 
the  scene  of  the  battle  until  after  the  fight.  A  little 
later  he  enlisted  and  was  settled  in  Boston.  But, 
as  the  army  was  not  active  at  that  time  and  he  had 
much  work  to  do  on  his  farm  to  support  his  large 
family,  his  son  Samuel,  who  was  at  that  time  only 
fifteen  years  old,  took  his  place,  giving  the  father 
freedom  to  do  his  work.  While  his  son  was  thus 
acting  as  his  substitute,  the  regiment  was  sud- 
denly ordered  to  another  field  and  the  substitute 
went  in  place  of  the  father,  remaining  in  the 
army  for  some  time  and  serving  through  several 
engagements. 

The  Billings  family  was  also  closely  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  our  country.  William 
Billings  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Continental 
Army  and  his  son  was  a  captain  in  the  Army  of 
the  Revolution.  The  son  was  also  the  first  author 
and  publisher  of  music  in  this  country. 

This  family  history,  rooted  in  love  of  country, 
gave  to  Samuel  Capen  the  elemental  background 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  patriot  by  inheritance.  A 
child  of  the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colonies,  he  loved  the  very  soil  of  New  England, 
had  a  profound  faith  in  her  institutions  and  was 
an  American  of  the  best  type. 

His  father  belonged  to  the  great  middle  class 
which  has  so  largely  contributed  the  men  who  have 
been  most  useful  to  our  country,  a  class  neither 
smothered  by  wealth  nor  blighted  by  poverty.  It 

[12] 


THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MAN 

has  come  to  be  recognized  that  one  of  the  greatest 
evils  of  wealth  is  its  deadly  moral,  mental  and 
physical  effect  upon  children.  Many  who  have 
started  in  life  without  money  and  have  accumu- 
lated large  fortunes  have  maintained  their  crea- 
tive powers  and  have  not  reached  that  unfortu- 
nate state  where  it  is  impossible  to  find  joy  in  com- 
mon things.  But  it  is  seldom  that  children  born  in 
wealth  are  sufficiently  original  to  become  leaders 
among  men ;  seldom  that  they  succeed  in  growing 
an  unspoiled  human  nature  which  can  find  pleas- 
ure in  small  things  or  can  enter  into  real  sym- 
pathy with  commonplace  human  needs. 

Poverty  is  equally  destructive  of  the  highest 
manhood.  There  are  a  few  who  are  able  to  rise 
above  its  deadening  effects,  a  small  company  who 
seem  born  to  be  great  and  useful ;  but  the  atmos- 
phere of  poverty  stunts  the  average  life.  To 
every  child  there  comes  a  time  when  he  craves  ex- 
pansion of  personal  tastes.  He  begins  to  find  him- 
self and  to  reach  out  for  something  that  will  en- 
large his  developing  nature.  If  his  atmosphere  is 
bleak,  if  there  is  nothing  to  suggest  romance,  to 
encourage  observation  or  to  compel  him  to  project 
himself  into  a  world  of  new  interests,  he  becomes 
dull  and  coarse,  sometimes  even  bitter. 

The  young  Samuel  Capen  came  into  a  home 
where  there  were  none  of  the  luxuries  of  life.  His 
father  conducted  a  small  business,  bringing  home 
each  Saturday  night  enough  money  to  provide 
food,  clothes  and  shelter ;  but  not  a  sufficient  sum 
to  provide  those  luxuries  which  were  enjoyed  by 
boys  who  lived  not  far  away.  Many  times  the 

£13] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

contrast  must  have  seemed  strange  to  this  alert 
youth,  especially  as  he  craved  books  and  educa- 
tion. But  the  advantage  was  not  all  on  the  side 
of  those  who  lived  in  wealth.  He  had  to  create 
most  of  his  joys ;  they  were  not  thrust  upon  him, 
and,  being  compelled  to  originate  his  pleasures,  he 
could  never  exhaust  the  supply.  He  found  them 
in  such  commonplace  things  that  in  after  life  it 
was  not  difficult  for  him  to  discover  the  joy  that 
was  always  near  at  hand.  He  was  not  dependent 
upon  money,  nor  was  he  compelled  to  resort  to 
abnormal  excitement  to  satisfy  his  needs.  Accus- 
tomed from  the  earliest  years  to  rely  upon  his 
own  powers,  he  knew  how  to  find  joy  in  that  which 
to  others  had  become  not  only  uninteresting  but 
irksome. 

His  father  was  a  genial,  charitable  man  who 
seldom  spoke  evil  of  any  one,  was  always  leni- 
ent in  his  judgments  and  saw  the  good  rather 
than  the  evil  that  was  in  men.  This  latter  was 
one  of  the  most  marked  elements  of  character  in- 
herited by  the  son,  an  element  that  later  became 
one  of  the  secrets  of  his  power.  It  was  only  on  the 
rarest  occasions  that  Mr.  Capen  ever  spoke  a 
severe  word  against  even  his  worst  enemies,  and 
he  saw  the  good  in  men  long  after  others  had  lost 
faith.  Indeed,  there  never  came  a  time  when  he 
could  not  see  good  even  in  those  who  had  made 
grievous  moral  blunders  or  when  he  ceased  to 
labor  for  their  restoration. 

While  the  father  was  charitable,  he  was  firm  in 
his  convictions  and  did  not  hesitate  to  obey  his 
conscience,  even  though  obedience  meant  loss  of 

[14] 


THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MAN 

material  comforts.  It  was  customary  in  those 
days  for  nearly  all  grocery  stores  to  sell  liquor, 
as  it  was  also  the  habit  for  those  who  were  sup- 
posed to  be  good  Christians  to  drink  it.  But  the 
temperance  crusade,  which  was  then  sweeping 
over  the  country  with  power  and  was  touching  the 
consciences  of  thousands  of  men  and  women, 
touched  the  conscience  of  Samuel  Childs  Capen. 
He  became  convinced  that  no  Christian  man  ought 
to  sell  that  which  destroys  so  many  lives  and 
brings  unhappiness  into  so  many  homes.  Hence 
he  left  the  store  where  he  had  been  compelled  to 
sell  intoxicants  and,  at  a  sacrifice,  went  to  another 
place  where  groceries  alone  were  kept. 

It  was  a  home  of  the  Puritan  conscience  where 
the  Sabbath  was  strictly,  though  not  oppres- 
sively, observed,  where  card-playing,  dancing  and 
theater-going  were  classed  as  forms  of  worldiness, 
and  wiiere  the  reading  was  confined  mostly  to  seri- 
ous books,  novels  being  excluded.  It  was  not  dif- 
ferent from  the  homes  of  other  Congregational 
families  of  that  day  but  represented  the  conserva- 
tive, somewhat  austere  life  common  to  that  time. 
While  its  atmosphere  was  not  congenial  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  arts  and  while  it  was  perhaps  nar- 
row in  its  outlook  upon  the  world,  it  did  produce 
a  high  sense  of  duty,  that  * '  stern  daughter  of  the 
voice  of  God, ' '  and  gave  to  men  a  devotion  to  the 
great  things  of  the  spirit,  which  made  them  war- 
riors upon  whom  the  Church  could  depend  in 
every  crisis  and  who  were  destined  to  extend  the 
power  of  the  Church  beyond  anything  it  had  ever 
attained  in  the  new  world. 

[15] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

Among  these  leaders  Samuel  Capen  became  one 
of  the  strongest.  He  was  conspicuously  a  child  of 
this  Puritan  atmosphere.  He  seldom  read  novels, 
not  because  he  thought  it  was  wrong  to  do  so,  but 
because  he  regarded  it  as  a  waste  of  valuable  time 
that  could  be  more  advantageously  devoted  to 
other  things.  While  to  him  every  day  was  sacred, 
the  Sabbath  was  a  time  to  be  carefully  observed 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  things  of  the  spirit.  He 
never  played  a  game  of  cards,  never  danced,  and 
never  in  his  life  did  he  go  to  the  theater  or  the 
opera.  His  King's  business  required  haste,  and 
nothing  was  ever  permitted  to  enter  his  life  which 
would  rob  him  of  a  second  that  ought  to  be  de- 
voted to  this  great  service.  In  youth  and  old  age 
there  was  but  one  thing  he  feared :  he  was  afraid 
to  do  wrong.  He  had  but  one  desire,  and  that  was 
to  do  the  will  of  God. 

In  this  account  of  the  forces  which  contributed 
to  the  making  of  the  man  we  must  not  omit  his 
frequent  visits  to  the  country  and  his  love  for  the 
fields  and  hills.  Probably  the  greatest  danger 
confronting  the  boy  or  girl  who  is  born  in  the  city 
and  is  compelled  to  live  there  is  the  danger  of 
growing  into  a  life  spoiled  by  affectation.  City- 
bred  youth  are  surrounded  by  a  civilization  that 
is  artificial,  both  in  its  natural  aspects  and  in  its 
social  and  intellectual  expressions.  Men,  by  their 
language,  dress  and  manners,  pretend  to  be  what 
they  are  not.  They  are  away  from  reality  and 
often  fail  to  catch  the  mystery  and  poise,  the  calm 
and  self-reliance  of  the  great  out-of-doors.  They 
lack  the  earthly  element,  that  which  comes  from 

[16] 


THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MAN 

close  association  with  smiling  country  and  running 
brooks,  with  birds  and  dumb  creatures,  horses  and 
cows,  with  barns  and  the  upturned  soil.  They  are 
easily  shocked  and  count  that  which  is  common 
as  unclean.  Mr.  Capen  used  to  speak  of  Sharon, 
where  he  made  frequent  visits,  as  heaven.  It  was 
then  not  a  suburb,  a  place  of  beautiful  homes  and 
posted  lands,  but  a  farming  community.  There 
he  came  in  touch  with  things  as  they  are.  Instead 
of  finding  his  recreation  in  stuffy  halls  where  boys 
and  girls  were  dressed  as  little  prigs,  where  they 
were  moulded  after  the  pattern  of  the  fashion 
book,  taught  to  obliterate  their  personalities  in 
stilted  speech,  called  culture,  and  unnatural 
movements,  called  graceful,  he  spent  his  recrea- 
tion among  things  that  are  natural  and  real,  gain- 
ing the  unconscious  wisdom  that  belongs  to  things 
as  they  are  and  acquiring  that  naturalness  which 
wins  the  trust  of  those  who  are  sick  of  "the  great 
town's  harsh,  heart-wearying  roar.'* 

He  was  a  boy  when  Boston  was  famed  for  her 
great  men.  Within  a  few  minutes '  walk  from  his 
home  was  Summer  Street,  where  lived  Daniel 
Webster,  Edward  Everett,  and  the  Grays,  Gard- 
ners, Frothinghams,  Bigelows,  Lees,  Jacksons, 
Higginsons  and  Cushings.  In  Winthrop  Place 
lived  Eufus  Choate  and  not  far  away  was  George 
Bancroft,  the  historian.  In  this  region  were  the 
Hunnewells  and  the  Bowditches.  Before  he  was 
far  in  his  youth,  Garrison  and  Wendell  Phillips 
were  challenging  the  attention  of  the  public.  Oli- 
ver Wendell  Holmes,  Whittier  and  Emerson  were 
forming  the  first  great  period  of  American  litera- 

[17] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ture.  When  he  walked  up  Summer  Street  Sunday 
morning,  in  company  with  his  parents,  on  his  way 
to  the  Central  Congregational  Church,  he  often 
met  these  great  men  going  to  divine  worship. 
They  were,  to  the  aspiring  boy,  giants  in  the 
world  of  affairs,  an  inspiration,  and  created  in  his 
soul  fires  which  could  not  be  extinguished.  In 
later  life  he  often  referred  to  these  walks  as  one 
of  the  greatest  forces  in  the  making  of  his  life.  In 
his  boyish  dreams  he,  too,  would  be  great,  sway- 
ing men  by  his  eloquence  and  entering  into  the 
battles  for  righteousness. 

The  influence  of  these  great  men  upon  the  boy's 
life  was  indirect,  inspirational,  but  there  was  one 
who  was  the  intellectual  father  of  many  great 
men,  Thomas  Sherwin,  Principal  of  the  English 
High  School,  who  was  a  very  direct  and  powerful 
influence  in  moulding  the  life  of  this  youth  who 
came  under  his  care.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual 
strength,  dignified,  standing  for  the  best  in  every 
department  of  life,  with  the  ability  to  inspire 
boys,  and  to  call  out  that  which  is  noblest.  Samuel 
Capen  first  entered  the  Quincy  Grammar  School 
and  then  the  English  High,  where  he  came  under 
the  influence  of  this  great  master.  The  teacher 
acted  upon  the  boy  as  the  first  warm  days  of 
spring  act  upon  the  soil,  causing  the  sleeping 
earth  to  leap  into  life.  He  became  the  boy's  ideal 
of  dignified  and  courteous  manhood,  an  ideal 
which  was  doubtless  reflected  in  after  years  in  a 
life  that  was  marked  by  dignity  and  courtesy 
above  all  other  graces.  In  the  High  School  Sam- 
uel Capen  formed  habits  of  methodical  work,  con- 

[18] 


THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MAN 

centration,  and  appreciation  of  the  best  in  educa- 
tion. He  was  graduated  in  1858,  winning  the 
Franklin  Medal  for  scholarship,  and  passed  from 
the  direct  influence  of  the  school  system,  which,  in 
later  years,  he  was  to  serve  so  effectively. 

It  was  not  only  a  period  of  great  men,  but  a 
period  of  intense  religious  interest,  out  of  which 
came  the  characters  who  have  made  the  strong 
churches  throughout  New  England.  The  brilliant 
intellect  of  Edwards  A.  Park  of  Andover  was  re- 
stating the  old  New  England  theology  with  a 
freshness  of  thought  and  style  and  a  power  of 
logic  that  brought  new  life  into  the  churches; 
while  Horace  Bushnell  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
with  his  poetic  genius  and  the  power  of  his  per- 
sonality and  his  eloquence,  was  precipitating  con- 
troversy that  quickened  religious  discussion  and 
interest.  Richard  Storrs  was  just  rising  into 
fame  as  a  pastor  in  Brooklyn,  at  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrims ;  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  speaking 
to  the  heart  and  conscience  of  America,  as  no 
preacher  had  done  for  half  a  century.  Mrs.  Har- 
riet Beecher  Stowe's  ''Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  was 
being  published  as  a  serial  in  the  * '  National  Era ' ' 
of  Washington.  Great  revivals  were  stirring  the 
churches,  first  under  Charles  Finney  and  later 
under  the  early  leadership  of  Dwight  L.  Moody. 
Several  of  the  pulpits  of  Boston  churches  were 
filled  by  men  who  were  not  only  intellectual  giants, 
but  were  also  afire  with  the  revival  spirit.  So  in- 
tense was  this  religious  interest  that  the  Congre- 
gational denomination  gained  more  new  churches 
and  members  in  the  next  third  of  a  century  than  it 

[19] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

had  gained  in  the  previous  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  The  growth  in  the  enrollment  of  Sunday 
schools  was  even  greater  than  had  been  the 
growth  in  the  membership  of  the  churches,  while 
other  religious  work  among  young  people  was 
just  beginning  with  a  zeal  that  was  to  burst  into  a 
flame  of  enthusiasm,  finding  form  in  many  young 
people's  organizations  that  were  to  encircle  the 
earth. 

Samuel  Capen  was  fortunate  in  being  born  into 
a  Christian  home,  where  God  was  recognized  and 
where  all  things  concerning  the  family  were  daily 
committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  Heavenly  Father 
in  family  worship.  His  mother  was  a  very  devout 
woman,  manifesting  the  graces  of  the  Christian 
life,  and  having  a  profound  faith  in  prayer,  while 
the  father  was  one  of  the  old  New  England  type 
who  believed  that  a  man  should  be  a  priest  unto 
his  household.  In  this  atmosphere  the  young 
Samuel  grew  up  a  Christian,  never  having  to  pass 
through  the  agonies  of  violent  conversion  so  com- 
mon in  those  days. 

Only  second  in  importance  to  the  influence  of 
the  home  was  the  influence  upon  the  young  man 
of  this  new  religious  life  that  was  permeating  the 
community.  It  was  sometimes  exceedingly  nar- 
row in  its  outlook  upon  the  world  and  often 
strained  at  the  gnat  while  it  swallowed  the  camel. 
It  was  largely  lacking  in  a  consciousness  of  any  so- 
cial mission,  being  much  more  engaged  in  prepar- 
ing men  for  heaven  than  in  equipping  them  for 
the  struggle  of  bringing  heaven  on  the  earth.  It 
had  the  virtue,  however,  of  being  intense,  arousing 

[20] 


THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MAN 

in  men  a  deep  devotion  to  the  Church,  demanding 
a  part  of  their  time  for  Christian  service,  and 
placing  upon  them  a  heavy  sense  of  responsibility 
for  the  great  missionary  activities.  It  did  not  fail 
to  touch  this  young  spirit  which  was  always  sen- 
sitive to  that  which  was  best.  There  came  to  him 
very  early  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  taking 
the  message  of  the  Kingdom  to  the  whole  earth, 
and  when  he  first  began  to  earn  money  he  placed 
aside,  each  week,  one  tenth  of  his  earnings  to  give 
to  the  Church,  a  habit  which  he  carried  through 
life,  except  that  the  proportion  became  much 
larger  with  the  passing  of  the  years. 

There  were  no  Young  People's  Societies  in  the 
churches  in  those  days  but,  while  he  was  still  a 
youth,  he  formed  the  habit  of  speaking  at  the  mid- 
week service.  This  was  one  of  the  most  difficult 
things  he  had  to  do.  Public  speech  was  not  easy 
for  him  and  he  was  exceedingly  timid.  Slight  of 
body  and  sensitive  in  spirit,  the  young  man  would 
rise,  with  knees  trembling  and  heart  beating  fast, 
to  utter  a  few  words  he  had  already  carefully 
written  and  fixed  in  his  memory,  speaking  not 
only  because  he  thought  it  was  a  religious  duty 
but  also  as  a  means  of  increasing  his  effectiveness 
in  the  community. 


[21] 


CHAPTEE  III 

BUSINESS  CAEEEE 

Much  of  the  inspiration  of  Mr.  Capen's  life 
came  from  the  fact  that  he  went  into  business 
with  definite  ideals.  When  he  entered  the  carpet 
business  he  knew  what  he  meant  by  success. 
There  was  not  a  moment,  from  the  time  he  ac- 
cepted a  humble  position  for  the  small  salary  of 
seventy-five  dollars  a  year,  until  his  death,  whenhe 
would  not  have  left  the  firm  with  which  he  was  as- 
sociated had  his  business  demanded  any  compro- 
mise with  the  best  things  of  character  or  made  it 
impossible  for  him  to  follow  his  vision.  "  There 
was  never  a  moment  when,  in  the  deeper,  wider 
currents  of  his  mind,  he  was  not  moved  by  im- 
pulses greater  than  the  acquisition  of  wealth; 
never  a  moment  when  this  was  not  a  secondary 
and  subordinate  object  of  his  energies." 

We  find  his  ideals  clearly  set  forth  in  an  ad- 
dress he  gave  to  a  company  of  young  men  at  the 
Boston  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  He 
enumerated  five  things,  apart  from  which  he 
thought  any  life  would  be  a  failure. 

"The  first  condition  I  would  mention  is  fidelity, 
by  which  I  would  mean,  that  kind  of  conscientious- 
ness which  performs  the  smallest  details  well; 
that  faithfulness  which  sweeps  under  the  mat  and 
into  the  corners;  that  which  lays  a  poor  carpet 
ten  miles  out  of  Boston  as  thoroughly  as  a  better 

[22] 


THE   BUSINESS   MAN 

carpet  on  Beacon  Street;  that  which  tries  as 
earnestly  to  sell  an  oil  covering  in  the  basement, 
as  a  Wilton  on  the  main  floor. 

' '  The  second  condition  I  would  name  is  earnest- 
ness. There  is  no  chance  or  hope  for  the  idle  or 
indifferent ;  they  will  be  left  far  behind  in  the  race. 

' '  The  third  condition  is  integrity,  and  by  this  I 
would  mean  not  that  larger  form  which  refuses  to 
tell  a  downright  falsehood,  but  that  higher  form 
of  conscientiousness  which  will  not  swerve  a 
hair's  breadth  from  the  strictest  truth  whatever 
the  temptation;  the  courage  to  lose  a  sale  rather 
than  do  that  which  is  mean  or  questionable ;  which 
cuts  out  every  carpet  as  if  the  customer  were 
watching  the  process;  which  does  not  take  rem- 
nants off  the  shelf  and  charge  them  in  for  waste ; 
which  is  faithful  in  sending  all  the  odd  pieces  to 
the  purchaser  and  never  puts  them  aside  to  be 
made  into  a  hassock  by  and  by  at  some  one's  ex- 
pense. I  know  men  sometimes  appear  to  prosper 
by  overreaching  and  by  fraud.  But  it  is  a  tempo- 
rary success  only;  they  are  soon  known,  shunned 
and  despised.  If  a  man  will  build  up  a  business 
that  will  stand,  one  of  its  foundation  stones  must 
be  integrity. 

* '  The  fourth  condition  I  would  name  is  purity  of 
heart  and  life.  In  my  judgment,  I  cannot  empha- 
size this  too  strongly,  for  impurity  is,  next  to  in- 
temperance, the  greatest  danger  to  young  men. 
When  I  see  a  young  man  reading  a  novel  of  a 
doubtful  name,  when  I  see  him  go  with  those  who 
delight  in  telling  questionable  stories,  I  feel  that 
to  continue  in  that  path  is  his  ruin.  Shun  such 

[23] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

men  as  you  would  the  pestilence.  I  do  not  doubt 
that  we  shall  agree  on  this  point.  You  will  pardon 
me  if  I  go  a  step  further;  for  I  feel  that  I  would 
not  be  true  to  my  convictions  if  I  did  not  add  that 
I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible  for  any  man  to  be 
true  and  pure  and  faithful  in  every  respect  with- 
out help  from  above.  We  need  the  personal  help 
of  a  personal  God.  Here  is  where  I  believe  we  are 
most  apt  to  fail;  we  miss  the  real  object  of  a 
successful  life.  It  is  not  the  securing  of  wealth,  or 
the  acquiring  of  fame;  it  is  the  development  of 
character. ' ' 

Mr.  Capen  entered  the  employ  of  Wentworth 
and  Bright  in  1858,  soon  after  graduating  from 
the  High  School.  Both  physical  health  and  the 
financial  conditions  of  his  parents  made  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  follow  his  natural  inclination.  His 
disposition,  as  well  as  his  environment,  would  have 
turned  him  toward  the  Christian  ministry.  In  the 
Congregational  churches,  however,  this  high  call- 
ing had  been  surrounded  by  the  best  traditions, 
requiring  academic  training,  and  no  serious- 
minded  man  would  have  considered  this  work  who 
could  not  have  devoted  four  years  to  college  life 
and  three  additional  years  to  theological  training. 
For  the  young  Capen  this  was  impossible  and  he 
entered  the  greater  university  of  life,  gaining 
from  hard  experience  in  the  business  world  the 
elements  which  contributed  so  largely  to  his  suc- 
cess in  the  larger  field  of  politics,  education  and 
religion. 

Mr.  Capen  entered  the  employ  of  Wentworth 
and  Bright  to  learn  the  carpet  business.  He  was 

[24] 


THE   BUSINESS   MAN 

not  thinking  entirely  of  immediate  returns,  the 
thought  in  the  minds  of  so  many  boys  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  but  beginning  as  an  office  boy,  on  very 
low  pay,  he  gave  himself  faithfully  to  learning 
everything  about  the  trade.  As  a  result  of  his 
faithfulness,  his  ambition  and  his  hard  work,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  firm  within  five  years, 
and  occupied  an  important  place  in  the  councils 
of  the  managers  from  the  time  when  he  became  a 
stockholder. 

Being  one  of  the  younger  members  of  the  firm, 
Mr.  Capen  was  given  charge  of  many  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  business.  It  was  this  training  that 
gave  him  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  characteris- 
tics of  his  life — his  mastery  of  small  things.  As 
a  successful  business  man  he  had  every  item  of 
the  business  in  his  mind  and  this  attention  to  de- 
tails was  carried  through  his  life.  Whatever  he 
undertook  he  knew  thoroughly.  He  was  not  satis- 
fied with  a  general  knowledge  of  a  subject;  he 
must  know  its  work  in  detail.  This  was  what  made 
him  so  valuable  a  member  of  the  School  Board, 
such  a  successful  president  of  the  societies  he 
served,  and  such  a  helpful  member  of  his  church. 
He  carried  all  the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged 
in  his  mind  and  was  able  to  give  advise  that  was 
almost  unerring,  because  he  knew  the  work  in  its 
comprehensiveness. 

No  young  man  was  ever  more  fortunate  than 
Mr.  Capen  in  the  firm  whose  employ  he  entered. 
Both  Mr.  Wentworth  and  Mr.  Bright  were  Chris- 
tian men  who  carried  their  Christianity  into  their 
business.  Their  employees  were  treated  in  such  a 

L25J 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

manner  that  trades  unions  were  not  necessary  for 
their  protection  and  the  buying  and  selling  was 
always  according  to  the  highest  standards  of 
honor. 

After  the  great  Boston  fire,  Mr.  Wentworth 
went  out  of  business  and  the  firm  became  known 
as  Torrey,  Bright  and  Capen,  Mr.  Torrey  being  a 
leader  in  the  old  Second  Congregational  Church 
of  Dorchester,  a  man  of  the  highest  Christian  in- 
tegrity, and  widely  known  in  church  circles. 

One  incident  will  serve  to  indicate  the  high  stand- 
ard by  which  the  firm  conducted  its  business.  The 
custom  officials  had  overcharged  a  large  furniture 
house  for  some  goods  which  had  been  imported. 
When  they  were  correcting  the  mistake  the  book- 
keeper of  the  firm  asked  the  officials  if  their  at- 
tention had  ever  been  called  to  a  case  where  they 
had  undercharged  an  establishment.  "Only  once 
in  the  City  of  Boston, ' '  was  the  reply.  * '  That  was 
the  firm  of  Torrey,  Bright  and  Capen.  We  had 
sent  them  a  bill  for  a  sum  much  under  the  amount 
due  the  government.  They  called  our  attention 
to  the  mistake  and  paid  what  was  due  the 
customs. ' ' 

The  same  high  sense  of  honor  characterized 
their  relation  to  the  men  who  worked  for  them. 
They  demanded  that  their  employees  should  be 
men  of  the  best  character.  In  the  early  days  of 
the  firm  Mr.  Capen  had  the  habit  of  standing  at 
the  front  door  every  Monday  morning  as  the 
clerks  came  to  their  work.  He  greeted  them  with 
a  cordial  shake  of  the  hand  and  some  pleasant 
word.  Seldom  did  he  fail  to  express  the  hope  that 

[26] 


THE   BUSINESS   MAN 

they  had  attended  some  church  service  on  the 
previous  day  and  had  enjoyed  the  privilege  of 
hearing  a  good  sermon.  This  was  his  quiet,  un- 
obtrusive way  of  keeping  up  the  moral  tone 
of  the  clerks  and  indicating  in  an  inoffensive 
manner  that  the  managers  were  interested 
in  their  spiritual  as  well  as  their  material 
welfare. 

When  a  worthy  employee  was  taken  sick  his 
wages  continued  during  his  absence  from  the  store 
and  in  more  than  one  instance  men  with  families 
were  carried  on  the  pay  roll  for  months  when 
they  were  unable,  through  physical  infirmity,  to 
be  present  at  their  work.  The  firm  always  acted 
upon  the  principle  that  they  were  trustees  for  the 
wellbeing  of  their  employees  and  no  man  who  had 
conducted  himself  in  an  honorable  way  ever 
had  any  reason  to  complain  of  the  treatment  he 
received. 

One  man,  who  was  bookkeeper  for  years,  was 
often  called  upon  to  work  overtime.  Not  only  did 
he  receive  just  compensation  for  such  work  but 
Mr.  Capen,  as  he  passed  the  office  on  his  way  from 
the  store  at  night,  would  usually  insist  that  he  be 
permitted  to  remain  to  help  this  man  with  his 
task.  He  created  a  sense  of  companionship  in 
toil,  assuring  his  men  that  he  did  not  ask  of  them 
what  he  was  not  glad  to  do  himself,  and  it  was 
often  only  the  most  insistent  refusal  of  his  offered 
assistance  that  would  compel  the  overworked  em- 
ployer to  leave  the  office  and  go  to  his  home  for 
rest.  It  was  not  merely  the  attitude  of  an  em- 
ployer toward  his  help,  but  it  created  an  atmos- 

[27] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

phere  which  made  his  store  one  where  the  men 
loved  to  toil. 

When  Mr.  Capen  ceased  from  active  business 
and  withdrew  from  the  firm  of  Torrey,  Bright  and 
Capen,  this  bookkeeper  left  his  place  and  sought 
employment  elsewhere.  When  he  was  seeking  for 
work  in  other  establishments,  a  man,  who  had  been 
in  business  for  years  in  Boston,  said  to  this  book- 
keeper, "You  must  not  expect  to  find  a  place  like 
the  one  you  had  with  Torrey,  Bright  and  Capen. 
You  will  not  find  it.  In  their  treatment  of  help 
they  stood  in  a  class  by  themselves. ' ' 

We  cannot  overemphasize  the  influence  of  such 
a  business  house  upon  the  life  of  a  young  man 
just  entering  upon  his  career.  The  highest 
ideals  of  Church  and  state  were  incarnated  in  the 
older  men  with  whom  he  associated  and  the  young 
Samuel  Capen  found  in  their  store  congenial  soil 
in  which  the  seeds  of  his  idealism  could  grow  and 
flourish. 

He  had  been  in  the  firm  only  a  few  years  when, 
from  close  confinement  and  hard  work,  he  needed 
a  rest.  His  employers  sent  him  to  Washington 
for  a  short  vacation.  Many  young  men  would 
have  spent  their  time  in  visiting  places  of  interest 
about  the  capital.  But  Samuel  Capen,  who  had 
been  under  the  influence  of  the  great  men  of  Bos- 
ton, both  in  Church  and  state,  who  had  already 
tasted  the  delights  of  public  debate,  and  who  had 
ideals  of  civic  and  political  betterment,  spent 
nearly  all  his  time  in  the  galleries  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  and  the  Senate,  listening  to 
the  great  orators  who  were  then  in  Congress,  learn- 

[281 


THE   BUSINESS   MAN 

ing  from  them  what  he  could  of  the  art  of  public 
speech,  in  which  he  always  had  great  interest.  No 
other  incident  in  his  career  could  reveal  more 
clearly  the  fundamental  trend  of  the  young  man's 
life  and  the  attitude  toward  life  which  he  main- 
tained to  the  very  last.  While  other  men  were 
seeking  entertainment  and  amusement,  he  passed 
these  that  he  might  select  those  things  only  which 
ministered  to  his  purpose  and  increased  his  value 
to  society. 

On  December  8, 1869,  Mr.  Capen  married  Helen 
M.  Warren  and  started  one  of  the  most  ideal 
homes  ever  established  by  two  Christian  people, 
a  home  that  was  not  only  a  source  of  constant 
happiness  but  also  one  which  contributed  very 
largely  to  his  useful  life. 

He  had  been  married,  however,  only  two  or 
three  years  when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  serious 
sickness.  A  nervous  disorder  affected  his  throat 
and  hands.  For  a  long  time  it  was  only  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  he  could  talk.  Added  to 
this  terrible  affliction  he  had  tuberculosis  of  the 
knee.  For  many  months  it  seemed  that  he  would 
never  be  able  to  do  any  more  work  and  even  his 
life  was  in  serious  danger.  It  was  only  the  most 
rigid  self-discipline  that  saved  him.  He  was  di- 
rected by  the  doctor  to  take  breathing  exercises 
and  also  to  give  regard  to  other  matters  concern- 
ing his  health.  Though  they  were  taxing  in  the  ex- 
treme, he  followed  them  with  a  conscientious- 
ness which  characterized  his  life  to  the  end  and 
which  finally  restored  his  health. 

It  was  during  this  sickness  that  there  entered 
[29] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

his  life  a  deepening  consecration  to  the  higher 
purposes  of  religion.  Compelled  to  remain  for 
months  in  absolute  idleness,  unable  to  talk  to  his 
friends  except  to  a  limited  extent,  he  made  the 
solemn  resolve  with  his  God  that  if  his  health  was 
restored  he  would  never  shirk  any  work  nor  com- 
plain of  any  task  that  might  be  presented  to  him. 
It  was  an  experience  that  affected  his  entire  life, 
deepening  his  religious  nature  and  sending  him 
into  the  great  needy  world  to  be  an  untiring 
worker  who  was  never  heard  to  complain  that  he 
was  too  busy  to  undertake  a  new  duty  and  who 
met  every  call  from  needy  men  as  from  God. 

A  short  time  before  his  marriage  he  had  moved 
from  Boston  to  Jamaica  Plain.  On  the  Sunday 
when  he  first  attended  the  Central  Congregational 
church  there,  the  leader  of  the  Men's  Bible  Class 
was  absent  and  Mr.  Capen  was  asked  to  teach  the 
class.  He  was  immediately  persuaded  to  remain 
as  its  teacher  and  from  that  time  until  his  death 
he  continued  in  that  position.  Under  his  inspiring 
direction  the  class  became  famous  throughout 
New  England  and  was  made  the  model  after  which 
many  classes  were  formed  in  other  communities. 

Before  his  marriage  he  had  been  made  deacon 
of  that  Church.  It  was  a  rare  thing  in  those  days 
to  elect  a  young  man  to  the  diaconate.  It  was 
an  office  to  be  filled  by  the  aged  and  godly  elders 
who  had  supposedly  experienced  great  things  in 
the  realm  of  religion.  It  was  a  tribute  to  this 
young  man's  power  of  leadership,  as  well  as  to  the 
confidence  men  had  in  his  spiritual  life,  that  he 
was  placed  in  this  exalted  office. 

[30j 


THE   BUSINESS   MAN 

But  lie  had  not  been  without  training  to  fit  him 
for  the  place.  He  had  been  a  successful 
teacher  for  several  years  in  the  Old  Colony 
Mission  School  and,  even  better  in  view 
of  this  new  office,  he  had  been  one  of  a 
group  of  young  men  who  had  organized  them- 
selves in  the  old  Central  Church  of  Boston  for 
Christian  service.  They  met  each  week  to  dis- 
cuss religious  questions  and  also  topics  concern- 
ing good  citizenship.  It  was  in  this  society  that 
Mr.  Capen  had  cultivated  the  power  of  public 
speech,  an  ability  to  express  himself  clearly  and 
forcibly  and  to  extend  his  influence  through  the 
medium  of  public  utterance.  Though  he  did  not 
enter  conspicuously  into  public  life  until  he  was 
over  forty  years  of  age,  he  was  through  all  those 
early  years  preparing  himself  in  the  consecrated 
atmosphere  of  a  Christian  business  house  and  in 
every  possible  opportunity  of  Christian  activity 
for  the  high  privileges  which  were  to  be  offered 
him  later  for  service  to  the  Church,  the  city  and 
the  state. 


[31] 


CHAPTER  IV 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   CONGREGATIONAL 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND  PUBLISHING 

SOCIETY 

Preceding  the  year  1880  the  missionary  work  of 
the  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publish- 
ing Society  had  been  insignificant.  A  few  mis- 
sionaries were  employed  as  early  as  1852  in  New 
York  and  in  the  central  western  states,  but  the  work 
was  of  very  small  proportions,  and  at  the  opening 
of  the  Civil  War  it  was  practically  abandoned. 
Rev.  Asa  Bullard  was  Agent  and  Secretary  of  the 
Sunday  School  Society  for  more  than  fifty  years 
beginning  in  1834.  His  work  was  confined  largely 
to  New  England,  although  he  did  some  work  in  the 
West,  but  this  latter  went  for  the  most  part  to 
build  up  Presbyterian  churches. 

In  1874  the  National  Council  of  Congregational 
Churches  recommended  that  the  missionary  Sun- 
day school  work  be  transferred  to  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society.  This  was  done  in  1876.  The 
action  was  taken  against  the  judgment  of  many  of 
the  officers  of  both  Societies  and  it  proved  to  be  a 
disastrous  act  to  the  denomination.  It  nearly 
destroyed  the  Sunday  school  missionary  work, 
and  if  it  had  been  allowed  to  stand,  it  would  have 
severely  crippled  the  denomination. 

The  receipts  for  Sunday  school  work  that  were 
transferred  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society  were 

[32] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WOEK 

very  small  and  those  of  the  Publishing  Society, 
as  a  result  of  the  action,  fell  from  $12,224  in  1873 
to  $1,464  in  1879.  Shorn  of  what  little  missionary 
work  it  had  done,  the  Society  had  small  hold  upon 
the  denomination,  and  that  little  was  almost 
wholly  in  New  England. 

In  1880,  however,  a  few  Sunday  school  workers 
began  to  agitate  the  question  why  Congregation- 
alists  could  not  have  a  Sunday  school  leader,  fill- 
ing some  such  position  as  that  held  by  Dr.  Vincent 
in  the  Methodist  Church,  or  by  Dr.  Worden  in  the 
Presbyterian.  The  State  Association  of  Illinois, 
and  some  other  bodies,  passed  resolutions  recom- 
mending such  action  and  sent  them  to  the  Society 
in  Boston. 

Whenever  there  is  a  great  crisis  in  the  nation 
or  in  the  Christian  organization,  God  has  a 
leader  ready  for  the  hour.  The  case  of  this  So- 
ciety was  no  exception.  A  man  was  needed  who 
had  great  ability,  was  fertile  in  resources,  cou- 
rageous, and  not  only  enthusiastic  himself,  but 
capable  of  arousing  enthusiasm  in  others.  Such 
a  man  was  found  in  the  person  of  Rev.  A.  E.  Dun- 
ning, who  became  Secretary  of  the  Society  on 
January  1, 1881. 

It  is  necessary  to  recount  some  of  the  difficulties 
confronted  by  Dr.  Dunning  in  order  to  understand 
the  great  work  accomplished  by  Mr.  Capen  for 
this  organization.  The  first  difficulty  encountered 
was  apathy  and  indifference.  Within  a  year  of 
the  time  when  Dr.  Dunning  was  appointed,  he  se- 
cured, through  the  proper  officers,  an  opportunity 
to  speak  before  the  Massachusetts  State  Associa- 

[33] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

tion.  When  it  became  time  for  him  to  speak  a 
gentleman  arose  and  asked,  "Who  is  Mr.  Dunning 
and  what  is  the  Sunday  School  Society?"  He 
was  not  allowed  to  proceed  until  Dr.  Quint,  the 
moderator,  in  a  quaint  way,  had  answered  the 
question.  And  this  was  in  Massachusetts  but 
little  over  thirty  years  ago. 

The  second  difficulty  was  opposition  from  with- 
out. The  moment  Mr.  Dunning  began  vigorously 
to  promote  missionary  work  he  was  bitterly  op- 
posed by  other  interests.  One  of  the  great  de- 
nominational leaders  felt  that  he  would,  if  allowed 
to  go  on,  secure  funds  that  he  himself  wanted  for 
another  Society,  and  he  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  prevent  Dr.  Dunning  from  securing  a 
hearing  before  the  State  Associations.  This 
leader  was  indorsed  in  this  attempt  by 
many  whom  he  influenced.  Nor  was  the 
organization  represented  by  this  opponent 
the  only  one  determined  to  crush  the  life 
out  of  this  Sunday  school  movement.  The 
opposition  often  took  the  form  of  petty  attacks. 
In  Illinois  a  place  had  been  given  Dr.  Dunning  to 
present  the  cause  of  the  Sunday  School  Society 
at  the  State  Association,  but  a  plan  was  made  to 
prevent  him  from  speaking.  The  opposition  was 
severe,  but,  to  his  credit  be  it  said,  the  moderator 
was  determined  there  should  be  fair  play.  He  de- 
cided that  Dr.  Dunning  should  be  heard  and  he 
carried  the  Association  with  him.  A  year  or  two 
later,  in  the  same  state,  a  most  bitter  attack  was 
made  against  the  Secretary  personally  and 
against  the  Society. 

[34] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WOEK 

The  third  difficulty  was  opposition  within  the 
Society.  A  majority  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
did  not  favor  the  plan  of  raising  money  for  send- 
ing out  Sunday  school  missionaries.  They  wanted 
what  little  money  was  given  put  into  the  pub- 
lishing work.  The  result  of  this  opposition  was 
practically  a  revolution  in  the  management  of  the 
Society,  the  retirement  of  several  of  the  old  di- 
rectors, and  the  appointment  of  men  who  were 
more  interested  in  pioneer  Sunday  school  work. 

The  nominal  capital  of  the  Society  at  this  time 
was  $35,127  but  most  of  this  was  afterward 
charged  off  to  profit  and  loss.  Unless  very  wise 
management  and  strong  personalities  could  be  se- 
cured it  was  evident  that  the  Society  could  not 
continue  its  work. 

With  these  almost  insuperable  difficulties  before 
him,  Dr.  Dunning,  seeing  signs  of  promise  in  one 
of  Boston's  young  merchants,  conceived  the  idea 
that  if  he  could  persuade  him  to  become  president 
of  the  Society  he  could  save  it  from  ruin  and  make 
it  one  of  the  strong  organizations  of  the 
Congregational  Churches.  He  wrote  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Capen,  urging  upon  him  the  rea- 
sons why  he  should  give  his  services  to 
this  difficult  undertaking.  The  first  letter 
received  a  negative  answer,  but  Dr.  Dun- 
ning's  perseverance  finally  prevailed  and  he  suc- 
ceeded not  only  in  securing  a  leader  who  was  to 
be  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  reorganizing  this 
Society  but  also  in  bringing  to  the  attention  of  the 
churches  a  man  who  was  to  become  one  of  the  most 
useful  men  of  his  generation.  For  this  act,  quite 

[35] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

as  much  as  for  his  excellent  work  as  secretary  of 
the  Society  and  later  as  editor  of  the  ' '  Congrega- 
tionalist,"  the  churches  are  under  great  obliga- 
tion to  Dr.  Dunning. 

Mr.  Capen  was  elected  president  on  May  30, 
1882,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Society. 
He  accepted  his  duties  in  no  perfunctory  way  but 
entered  with  deep  devotion  into  every  department 
of  the  work.  Indeed,  this  was  one  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  all  his  public  activity.  He  would 
never  accept  any  office  to  be  a  figurehead,  perhaps 
ornamental,  but  useless  as  far  as  real  service  was 
concerned.  He  felt  the  responsibility  of  making 
the  entire  denomination  realize  the  importance  of 
the  Sunday  School  Society,  and  he  threw  himself 
with  untiring  zeal  into  the  task  of  reorganization. 

His  first  work  was  in  securing  funds  to  save  the 
Society  from  bankruptcy  and  to  give  it  a  working 
capital.  He  secured  three  subscriptions  of  $5000 
a  year  for  three  years  which  gave  the  society  a 
working  capital  to  carry  forward  its  activities,  a 
contribution  obtained  by  reason  of  the  confidence 
men  had  in  his  leadership. 

The  second  important  work  done  by  Mr.  Capen 
was  the  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 
One  of  the  conditions  made  before  he  would  ac- 
cept the  office  was  that  he  should  have  the  right 
to  name  six  business  men  as  members  of  this 
Board.  The  request  was  granted  and  several 
leading  clergymen,  together  with  six  of  our  ablest 
laymen,  who  had  the  confidence  of  all  the  churches, 
were  elected.  They  included  strong  ministers 
such  as  Doctors  Alexander  McKenzie,  Mortimer 

[36] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

Blake,  Joshua  Wellman,  Charles  B.  Rice,  B.  Frank- 
lin Hamilton,  J.  T.  Duryea,  George  M.  Boynton, 
Robert  R.  Meredith,  Michael  Burnham  and  such 
laymen  as  Alpheus  Hardy,  William  H.  Wardwell, 
Charles  A.  Richardson,  Joshua  Davis  and  E.  C. 
Stanwood. 

The  result  of  this  business  reorganization  can- 
not be  better  stated  than  in  Mr.  Capen's  words 
in  an  address  given  in  Hartford  in  1899.  "The 
nominal  capital  in  1882  was  $35,127,  much  of 
which  was  charged  off  subsequently  to  profit  and 
loss.  Considerable  of  this  capital  was  in  stereo- 
type plate,  etc.,  of  small  value.  If  everything  had 
been  marked  down  rigidly,  as  has  been  the  policy 
of  later  years,  the  real  capital  would  have  been 
much  less.  Five  thousand  dollars  of  it  had  been 
transferred  from  another  fund  and  put  into  the 
working  capital,  which  in  later  years  was  restored. 
New  energy  was  put  into  the  business;  earnest 
efforts  were  made  to  extend  it ;  the  new  mission- 
aries employed  were  interested  to  press  our  liter- 
ature upon  the  schools ;  great  care  was  shown  in 
the  character  of  the  books  we  published;  stores 
which  had  frequently  refused  to  look  at  our  pub- 
lications were  now  able  to  give  our  books  a  place 
upon  their  shelves,  and  there  was  a  new  conoUtion 
of  things  everywhere.  The  capital  March  1,  1899, 
is  $125,490,  all  of  which,  except  about  $19,000 
raised  in  1883  and  1884  for  new  capital,  has  come 
from  the  profits  of  its  business.  The  circulation 
of  our  lessons  helps  about  twenty  years  ago  was 
less  than  50,000;  last  year  they  were  644,000." 

Even  more  important  gains  were  made  in  some 

[37] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

directions  than  would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  the 
above  figures.  The  business  prosperity  of  the 
Society  warranted  a  vote,  taken  in  1882,  that  one- 
half  of  all  the  expenses  of  the  Secretary  should 
be  paid  by  the  business  department.  While  the  chief 
work  of  the  Secretary  was,  of  course,  with  the 
missionary  department,  yet  he  did  not  have,  under 
its  rules,  large  responsibility  for  its  publications. 
Its  missionaries  were  more  or  less  agents  to  push 
its  business  and  it  seemed  just,  therefore,  that 
the  business  should  pay  one-half  of  the  Secre- 
tary's salary  and  expenses.  The  President  and 
some  of  the  directors  wanted  the  time  to  come 
when  the  capital  of  the  Society  would  reach  such 
an  amount  that  they  could  give  all  their  surplus 
profit  each  year  to  the  missionary  department,  or, 
at  least,  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  administration 
of  the  Boston  office.  To  some  extent  their  desire 
was  attained  and  they  gave  out  of  this  surplus 
amounts  varying  from  $2500  to  $5000  a  year  for 
several  consecutive  years.  This  made  it  possible 
for  them  to  make  a  stronger  appeal  to  their  con- 
stituency, as  men  throughout  the  denomination 
were  made  to  feel  that  the  Society  was  not  only 
a  business  but  a  great  missionary  enterprise. 

Under  the  new  administration  there  was  also 
an  extension  of  missionary  work.  The  first  Sun- 
day school  missionary  began  work  in  December, 
1882.  Since  that  time  the  missionaries  of  this 
organization  have  covered  every  western  state 
and  some  of  the  southern  states.  Before  Mr. 
Capen  resigned  the  Society  had  reached  a  point 
where,  on  an  average,  twenty-five  missionaries 

[38] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

were  kept  in  the  field  all  the  year,  and  in  some 
months  from  thirty-five  to  forty.  One  of  these  mis- 
sionaries led  over  five  hundred  persons  into  the 
Church.  Between  1883  and  1899  the  Society 
organized  over  seven  thousand  Sunday  schools,  in- 
to which  were  gathered  at  the  time  of  their  organi- 
zation over  three  hundred  thousand  people.  In 
1882  their  workers  planted  and  aided  only  four 
hundred  and  twelve  schools.  In  the  nineties  they 
planted  each  year,  on  an  average,  about  five  hun- 
dred new  schools  and  assisted  about  one  thousand 
more,  most  of  which,  perhaps  the  majority,  would 
have  died  without  this  aid.  From  the  years  1885 
to  1895  seven  hundred  and  sixty  of  these  Sunday 
schools  grew  into  churches,  and  more  than  two 
thousand  of  the  Congregational  churches  were 
aided  by  this  Society  in  their  Sunday  school  work. 
In  other  words,  about  one-third  of  the  Congre- 
gational churches  of  the  United  States  have  been 
aided  by  this  organization  and  one-tenth  have 
grown  directly  out  of  its  work.  Of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  new  churches  reported  in  the  year 
book  for  1898,  thirty-seven  were  started  in  Sun- 
day schools  organized  by  these  missionaries,  six- 
teen others  were  aided  from  their  beginning,  and 
thirteen  more  were  helped  during  the  year:  that 
is,  more  than  one-fourth  were  organized  from  be- 
ginnings made  by  this  Society  and  nearly  one- 
half  were  helped  by  it.  Of  the  eighty-nine  new 
churches  reported  in  the  year  book  for  1899,  thirty 
grew  from  Sunday  schools  planted  by  these  mis- 
sionaries and  eighteen  more  were  aided  by  the  So- 
ciety at  some  time  during  their  history.  Such 

[39] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

figures  show  what  a  large  part  this  Society,  under 
its  new  direction,  played  in  the  development  of 
the  Congregational  churches. 

Probably  one  of  the  most  far-reaching  steps 
taken  by  the  Society  under  its  new  management 
was  the  calling  of  a  secretary  to  edit  the  Sunday 
School  Lesson  Helps.  Before  1885  the  preparation 
of  the  Lesson  Helps  and  other  literature  for  Sun- 
day school  work  had  been  done  by  special  arrange- 
ment with  individuals.  Doctors  Alexander  Mc- 
Kenzie,  William  H.  Wilcox,  C.  B.  Bice,  D.  N. 
Beach  and  E.  R.  Meredith  had  prepared  Helps  for 
teachers  and  schools.  In  May  of  that  year,  how- 
ever, Mr.  M.  C.  Hazard  was  called  from  the  posi- 
tion of  Secretary  of  the  Western  Sunday  School 
Society  to  remove  to  the  Boston  office  and  become 
editor  in  charge  of  the  literature  of  this  new  de- 
partment. How  greatly  this  added  to  the  value  of 
these  publications  was  indicated  by  their  increas- 
ing circulation.  Previous  to  this  time  the  Congre- 
gational churches  had  felt  no  obligation  to  secure 
their  literature  from  denominational  headquar- 
ters, but  this  new  departure  was  so  successful  that 
the  Congregational  churches  everywhere  turned, 
in  increasing  numbers,  to  their  own  Publishing 
Society  for  the  source  of  their  supplies ;  until,  to- 
day it  is  only  the  exceptional  church  that  seeks  the 
outside  publisher. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  younger  men  of  the  Con- 
gregational churches,  who  see  the  Congregational 
Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society  in  such  a 
flourishing  condition,  one  of  the  strongest  and 
most  influential  organizations  of  their  denomina- 

[40] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WOEK 

tion,  to  realize  what  work  has  been  done  to  give 
it  the  place  it  occupies  today.  This  is  due  first 
of  all  to  the  personalities  of  Dr.  Dunning  and  Mr. 
Capen  and  to  the  strong  men  they  gathered  about 
them,  but  also  to  the  far-sighted  business  policy 
they  adopted. 

It  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  they  agreed 
that  whatever  work  was  undertaken  by  the  So- 
ciety should  be  made,  so  far  as  possible,  perma- 
nent. They  recognized  that  the  Church  is  a  divine 
institution  and  that  it  was  their  mission  to  plant 
Sunday  schools  where,  first  under  the  care  of 
their  Society,  and  later  under  the  care  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  they  should  grow 
into  permanent  churches.  They  believed  that  the 
Sunday  school  was  father  of  the  church.  The  re- 
sult of  the  years  justified  their  faith  and  it  was  a 
pleasure  to  them,  after  their  years  of  anxious  and 
untiring  work,  to  have  one  of  the  largest  denomi- 
nations in  a  great  assembly,  a  few  years  ago,  de- 
clare that  the  missionary  work  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Sunday  School  Society  was  the  best  in  the 
country. 

While  this  policy  of  doing  permanent  work  was 
the  fundamental  principle,  they  also  recognized 
the  call  to  enter  fields  where  there  could  be  no 
probability  of  such  results.  As  a  consequence, 
they  planted  nearly  one  thousand  Sunday  schools 
where  there  was  no  other  religious  work.  Some 
of  their  schools  were  of  very  slow  growth  and 
they  knew  some  would  perish,  but  they  believed 
it  was  their  mission  to  let  children  in  out-of-the- 
way  places  hear  the  message  of  the  Christ. 

[41] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

They  tried  to  recognize  the  importance  of  time 
in  their  work.  It  makes  an  infinite  difference  to  a 
community  whether  the  Sunday  school  or  the 
saloon  gets  the  first  hold  upon  the  community. 
They  tried,  therefore,  to  keep  their  men  at  the 
front,  doing  the  hard  work  of  pioneers,  and  the 
thrilling  stories  of  some  of  their  missionaries, 
fighting  the  forces  of  iniquity  which  tried  to  cap- 
ture the  communities  in  which  they  worked,  af- 
ford some  of  the  most  interesting  reading  of  our 
American  history. 

They  also  felt  the  importance  of  circulating  the 
best  religious  literature  as  an  antidote  to  the  vile 
stuff  that  was  circulated  everywhere.  What  this 
meant  to  the  dwellers  on  the  prairie  and  in  the 
mining  camps  only  eternity  alone  can  reveal. 

Finally  they  adopted  the  settled  policy  never  to 
incur  a  debt.  They  felt  that  the  limit  of  their 
responsibility  ceased  with  the  money  given  them, 
and  that  it  was  their  duty  so  to  administer  the 
trust  as  to  take  no  chances  of  incurring  a  debt. 
They  believed  that  a  society,  as  well  as  an  in- 
dividual, should  live  within  its  income.  As  a  re- 
sult of  this  policy  they  established  a  legacy  fund. 
In  this  particular  organization  this  meant  that 
all  legacies  left  to  the  Society,  instead  of  being 
spent  in  one  year,  should  cover  a  period  of  three 
years,  one-third  being  spent  each  year.  Such  a 
fund  gave  the  Society  a  little  reserve  at  all  times 
and  helped  toward  steadiness  in  work.  As  a  con- 
sequence they  made  a  record  that  no  missionary 
of  the  Society  ever  waited  for  his  salary  for  one 
hour  from  lack  of  funds.  The  men  on  the  field 

[42] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

were  in  hearty  and  cordial  sympathy  with  the 
home  office ;  they  were  enthusiastic  in  their  work ; 
they  were  devoted  and  true;  and  this  was  due 
partly  to  the  knowledge  that  there  should  never 
be  any  delay  in  the  payments  of  their  salaries. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  review  somewhat  at 
length  this  history  of  the  Sunday  School  and  Pub- 
lishing Society,  as  it  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  the  life  and  development  of  Mr.  Capen.  It 
was  here  in  a  sense  that  he  found  himself,  that 
he  had  the  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  his 
peculiar  talents,  and  it  was  through  this  organi- 
zation that  he  received  his  introduction  to  the 
religious  world. 

It  is  probably  true  that  few  men  were  more 
eagerly  sought  to  make  addresses  for  all  sorts  of 
gatherings — religious,  social  and  civic — than  this 
Christian  layman,  and  there  were  few  whose 
words  were  more  carefully  considered.  He  never 
developed  into  a  polished  orator,  like  some  men 
who  have  had  the  benefit  of  the  schools,  and  his 
public  utterances  were  never  marked  by  wide 
learning  or  great  scholarship.  It  is  not  probable 
that  they  will  be  read  by  succeeding  generations 
or  even  preserved  in  a  single  volume.  Yet  the  ut- 
terances of  few  men  received  such  wide  circula- 
tion among  Christian  laymen  of  America  as  did 
the  spoken  and  printed  words  of  this  man.  His  ad- 
dress upon  peace,  delivered  before  the  American 
Board  in  Portland  and  printed  by  the  World 
Peace  Foundation,  has  been  called  for  more  fre- 
quently and  given  wider  circulation  than  any 
pamphlet  they  ever  printed.  Nearly  all  of  his  im- 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

portant  speeches  were  published  and  were  read 
not  only  by  the  laymen  of  his  own  denomination 
but  by  Christian  and  social  workers  throughout 
the  country. 

It  was  while  he  was  President  of  the  Sunday 
School  and  Publishing  Society  that  Mr.  Capen 
developed  this  art  which  made  him  so  useful  to 
the  religious  and  social  world.  Dr.  Dunning,  as 
Secretary  of  this  Society,  was  crowded  with  more 
work  than  it  was  possible  for  one  man  to  do.  There 
was  need  of  arousing  interest  among  the  churches 
and  presenting  the  work  of  the  Society,  a  need 
which  far  exceeded  the  powers  of  a  single  sec- 
retary. Mr.  Capen  saw  this  open  door  and  when 
he  saw  an  opportunity  he  accepted  it.  He  began 
by  addressing  Sunday  schools,  often  using  some 
object  which  would  catch  the  attention  of  the  chil- 
dren and  then  drawing  lessons  from  it,  and  again 
making  a  simple  but  earnest  appeal  to  a  group  of 
young  people.  But  all  who  heard  him  saw  great 
possibilities  and  in  a  little  while  he  was  sought  by 
churches  everywhere  and  soon  developed  into  an 
exceedingly  effective  speaker. 

At  first  these  addresses  were  always  written  out 
and,  like  the  first  efforts  of  many  men,  they  were 
cumbered  with  an  over-abundance  of  words  and 
lacked  form.  Many  times  he  would  read  them  to 
Dr.  Dunning  for  criticism  and  suggestion,  and 
under  this  kindly  criticism  he  quickly  came  to  see 
his  faults,  and  he  developed  that  concise,  pointed 
form  of  speech  which  made  him  one  of  the  most 
effective  ten-minute  speakers  this  generation  has 
produced. 

[44] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

The  theory  he  adopted  for  himself  is  stated  in 
an  address  he  gave  to  a  body  of  ministers : 
"Many  ministers  fail,  I  think,  in  not  making  the 
points  of  the  sermon  definite.  Whatever  else  you 
do,  make  them  clear  and  sharp.  I  believe  this  is 
extremely  important.  I  listened  a  few  months  ago 
to  an  address  from  a  doctor  of  divinity  who 
stands  high  in  his  profession.  After  listening 
about  thirty-five  minutes,  a  clergyman  with  whom 
I  had  a  little  acquaintance,  sitting  near,  touched 
my  shoulder  and  said :  '  Do  you  know  what  he  is 
talking  about  ? '  Another  person  near  said :  *  That 
was  just  my  thought. '  It  may  have  been  noticed 
that  Dr.  William  Taylor  in  his  sermons  usually 
makes  just  three  headings  and  I  have  another 
very  able  preacher  in  mind  who  told  me  that  he 
had  adopted  that  rule.  Their  points  are  made  so 
direct  that  everyone  feels  their  power."  He  cut 
from  his  addresses  all  superfluous  words,  ar- 
ranged his  material  so  clearly  that  no  one  could 
fail  to  grasp  the  meaning  and  by  the  power  of  his 
intense  earnestness  drove  his  thoughts  into  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

Indeed  some  men  thought  his  most  effective 
speeches  were  his  short  ones,  where  he  seized 
one  or  two  outstanding  principles  and,  by  his 
peculiar  grace  and  power,  made  them  vital  to  the 
lives  of  those  who  listened.  Many  large  as- 
semblies over  which  he  presided  were  lifted  at  the 
very  beginning  of  their  sessions  to  a  high  plane 
of  moral  and  spiritual  enthusiasm  by  one  of  his 
brief  introductory  addresses,  a  plane  which  they 
were  able  to  maintain  to  the  very  closing  hour, 

[45] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

when  he  would  deliver  another  short  address, 
which  would  seem  to  clinch  everything  that  had 
been  said  and  done. 

It  was  not  without  significance  that  he  devoted  a 
large  part  of  his  life  to  work  among  children,  first 
in  the  Sunday  schools,  then  in  the  Society  of  which 
he  was  President,  and  later  on  the  School  Com- 
mittee of  Boston.  It  was  while  he  was  President 
of  the  Publishing  Society  that  the  importance  of 
the  work  for  the  young  grew  upon  him.  In  one  of 
his  addresses  he  said:  "Many  living  can  remem- 
ber how  in  their  early  days  the  young  were  kept 
back  in  everything  which  looked  toward  active 
Christian  work.  There  has  just  been  called  home 
one  of  the  noblest  men  of  the  ministry,  Dr.  Brand, 
of  Oberlin.  When  he  became  a  Christian  in  the 
church  in  Maine  where  he  attended,  there  was  but 
one  male  member  in  the  church  under  thirty  years 
of  age.  Even  when  this  Sunday  School  Society 
was  reconstructed,  less  than  twenty  years  ago,  it 
was  regarded  as  a  rather  small  work  compared 
with  that  of  some  of  the  other  societies.  But  that 
day,  thank  God,  is  gone.  We  live  in  the  children's 
age,  and  we  have  learned  that  to  shape  and  mould 
the  boy  of  five  is  the  easiest  and  surest  way  to 
hold  the  man  of  twenty-five.  Work  for  the  chil- 
dren represents  the  greatest  economy  of  force." 

One  thing  which  he  said  often  to  the  churches 
cannot  be  repeated  too  frequently.  He  was  a 
strong  believer  in  influencing  little  children  to 
unite  with  the  Christian  Church  and  he  was  fond 
of  saying:  "Act  as  though  you  expected  the  little 
ones  to  come  to  Christ  at  once.  There  has  been 

[46] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

very  much  of  unbelief  in  the  past  about  little  chil- 
dren becoming  Christians.  Thank  God,  that  feel- 
ing is  passing  away !  Christ  wants  the  little  ones 
at  first,  before  sin  has  made  a  stronghold  of  their 
souls.  Then  let  them  feel  that  this  expectation  is 
of  the  first  importance,  more  important  than  all 
other  things  put  together;  that  money,  or  gain, 
or  dress,  or  station,  are  nothing  in  comparison. 
The  child  with  its  keen  instinct  will  readily  detect 
what  the  parent  wants  of  it  above  all  else.  To  the 
little  one  none  is  so  great  or  strong  as  the  father, 
or  so  loving  and  beautiful  as  the  mother.  Let 
that  power  be  uniformly  exerted  in  one  direction 
and  it  will  be  irresistible. ' ' 

It  was  during  this  period  of  his  work  that  his 
Men's  Bible  Class  in  the  Central  Church  in  Ja- 
maica Plain  became  very  widely  known,  and  was 
studied  by  hundreds  of  people  interested  in  the 
new  movement  among  the  churches  of  organizing 
the  men  of  the  parish  for  Bible  study.  Mr.  Capen 
often  quoted  in  public  speech  the  familiar  saying : 
"If  you  want  to  hold  the  boys  in  Sunday  school 
build  a  wall  of  men  so  high  that  they  cannot  jump 
over  it."  He  was  a  profound  believer  in  this 
truth,  and  for  years  he  was  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful teachers  of  a  large  men's  class  that  this 
country  has  produced.  The  secret  of  his  success 
may  be  found  in  ten  principles  which  he  adopted 
for  his  own  work  and  which,  he  believed,  were  the 
foundation  for  any  successful  worker. 

"(1)  Always  be  present  unless  detained  by 
some  important  reason,  a  reason  that  your  class 
will  feel  is  a  good  one.  (2)  I  try  to  keep  very 

[47] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

clearly  in  mind  the  great  aim  of  Bible  class  teach- 
ing; namely,  to  lead  all  to  Jesus  Christ  and  then 
to  inspire  them  with  the  thought  of  noble  service 
for  him.  (3)  I  try  to  be  faithful  in  preparation, 
remembering  not  only  the  beautiful  responsibility, 
but  also  the  unspeakable  privilege,  of  moulding 
young  men  for  the  life  that  now  is  and  for  that 
which  is  to  come.  I  think  that  every  layman  should 
spend  at  least  five  hours  in  preparation.  (4)  I 
write  out  all  the  questions  and  the  headings  of 
what  I  wish  to  say.  There  is  nothing  more 
demoralizing  to  a  class  of  bright  young  men  than 
for  the  teacher  to  be  fumbling  around  to  find  the 
place.  They  want  things  quick,  sharp,  prompt. 
(5)  I  try  never  to  do  the  same  thing  twice  alike. 
It  adds  greatly  to  have  variety.  (6)  As  a  part  of 
this  plan,  I  have  no  regular  order  of  asking  ques- 
tions. I  sometimes  begin  in  one  part  of  the  class 
and  sometimes  in  another.  In  going  around,  if  a 
hard  question  comes  to  one  whom  you  feel  may 
not  be  able  to  answer  it,  and  who  will  be  thereby 
embarrassed,  it  is  easy  enough  to  put  in  another 
question,  or  to  ask  the  difficult  question  of  all,  and 
see  how  many  answers  you  can  get;  or  'plump  it' 
at  some  one  you  know  will  be  glad  to  answer, 
as  if  you  had  been  saving  it  for  him  all  the  lesson. 
(7)  Be  cheerful.  A  long-faced  Christian,  if  such 
a  term  is  not  a  contradiction,  ought  never  to  be 
asked  to  teach  a  Bible  class.  I  do  not  believe  that 
there  are  either  icebergs  or  fogs  in  heaven,  and 
there  is  no  place  for  them,  personified,  in  the  Sun- 
day school.  The  person  who  goes  through  life  in 
a  'hang-dog  way,'  as  though  he  was  apologizing 

[48] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK 

to  the  Almighty  for  being  in  the  world  at  all,  can- 
not teach  young  men.  (8)  Be  earnest.  If  there  is 
anything  that  ought  to  arouse  all  that  is  in  us,  it 
is  the  thought  of  moulding  human  souls  by  the 
presentation  of  the  gospel.  (9)  Remember,  in 
the  last  five  minutes,  to  gather  up  and  enforce  the 
central  and  spiritual  thoughts  of  the  lesson.  Let 
everything  lead  up  to  this;  and  allow  nothing  to 
prevent  the  final  impression,  the  last  thought, 
from  being  the  one  you  would  be  glad  to  leave  if, 
when  you  gather  the  next  Sabbath,  there  should 
be  a  vacant  chair,  and  the  one  who  sat  there  a 
week  before  should  have  gone.  (10)  The  most 
important  duty  of  every  successful  teacher  is  per- 
sonal work.  We  must  make  our  scholars  feel  at 
once  that  we  are  personal  friends,  interested  in 
their  business,  in  their  studies,  in  their  amuse- 
ments, in  all  that  interests  them.  I  usually  call 
without  delay  upon  a  new  scholar.  If  he  be  not 
a  Christian,  as  soon  as  I  feel  that  I  have  a  little 
hold  upon  him,  I  invite  him  to  my  own  house 
and  talk  freely  and  frankly  upon  personal 
religion. ' ' 

The  value  of  these  rules  cannot  find  better  jus- 
tification than  the  results  they  produced.  Not  only 
did  he  gather  about  him  a  large  company  of  men 
who,  through  his  teaching  and  personal  influence, 
became  the  spiritual  teachers  and  leaders  in  his 
church,  but  scores  went  out  to  other  churches,  scat- 
tered all  over  this  country,  to  become  centers  of 
power.  He  always  carried  with  him  a  complete 
list  of  the  membership  of  this  class  and  no  day 
passed  when  he  did  not  pray  for  each  one  by  name. 

[49] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

He  considered  himself  responsible  for  the  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  this  little  flock,  and  there  was  not 
one  in  the  group  with  whom  he  did  not  at  some 
time  talk  on  the  subject  of  personal  religion,  mak- 
ing a  definite  effort  to  bring  him  to  a  decision  to 
serve  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  unite  with  the  Church. 
Even  when  he  was  on  his  last  journey  around  the 
world,  crowded  by  engagements,  busy  making  ad- 
dresses, visiting  mission  stations,  writing  letters 
and  making  notes,  he  not  only  held  to  his  practice 
of  praying  for  each  member  every  day,  but  also 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  be  read  to  the  class  at  each 
weekly  meeting.  Through  these  years  of  fidelity  as 
a  teacher  and  leader  of  his  class,  he  verily  attained 
an  immortality  by  living  over  again  in  lives  made 
better  by  his  presence.  While  his  interest  was  in 
the  children,  it  was  equally  vital  in  the  men,  and 
all  during  his  presidency  of  the  Sunday  School 
Society  he  was  a  great  power,  both  through  public 
addresses  and  personal  example,  in  encouraging 
the  organization  of  men's  classes  throughout  the 
country. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  men  became  con- 
scious of  his  intense  religious  earnestness,  the 
element  more  than  any  other  which  was  the  secret 
of  his  power.  His  life,  as  well  as  his  words,  was 
essentially  an  appeal  to  men  for  greater  loyalty 
to  Jesus  Christ.  Here  is  one  out  of  many  passages 
from  his  addresses  revealing  the  intense  earnest- 
ness of  the  man:  ''While  there  has  been  so  much 
progress  made,  and  while  the  Sunday  school  work 
of  our  denomination  and  of  others  has  given  such 
splendid  results,  let  us  not  forget  the  stupendous 

[50] 


IN   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WOEK 

task  yet  remaining  to  be  done.  With  over  ten 
millions  in  Sunday  school,  there  is  another  ten 
millions  of  school  age  outside.  And  one  of  the 
saddest  parts  of  it  all  is  that  of  these  millions 
many  cannot  get  a  chance  to  go  if  they  would. 
There  are  hundreds  of  places  in  our  country 
where,  as  yet,  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not 
taught  in  Sunday  school  or  church.  And  these 
places  give  such  splendid  results  when  the  Sun- 
day school  missionary  does  come.  The  people  are 
so  often  hungry  for  the  gospel.  A  single  illustra- 
tion: It  is  of  a  mining  town  with  over  four 
thousand  people  and  forty-seven  saloons,  with  no 
Sunday  school.  One  of  our  missionaries  a  short 
time  ago  was  instrumental  in  planting  a  school 
which,  in  a  few  months'  time,  had  three  hundred 
scholars;  a  church  was  organized  which  now  has 
over  two  hundred  members,  thirty-six  being 
added  last  year  at  a  single  communion.  Compare 
this  with  a  report  which  came  back  recently  to  us 
from  an  inquiry  we  made  in  a  certain  place.  I 
quote  literally :  '  No  school,  no  church,  no  mission- 
ary, no  religion.'  Such  a  report,  which  could 
be  duplicated  so  often,  ought  to  inspire  our 
churches  with  larger  consecration  and  greater 
liberality. ' ' 

Always  thankful  for  the  great  work  that  had 
been  accomplished,  he  saw  greater  work  to  be 
done.  Nothing  could  discourage  him.  He  was  es- 
sentially a  crusader,  not  content  until  there  should 
be  a  Sunday  school  and  church  upon  every  hill 
and  in  every  valley  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific. Men  caught  his  spirit.  Young  men  followed 

[51] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  noble  commander,  and  the  result  was  not  only 
a  Society  reorganized  on  its  business  side  but  a 
Society  filled  with  a  new  spirit,  and  made  a  great 
factor  in  our  religious  life. 


[52] 


CHAPTER  V 


Mr.  Capen  had  become  well  known  in  the 
Congregational  churches  through  his  connection 
with  the  Sunday  School  Society  and  in  Boston 
through  his  active  interest  in  municipal  reforms. 
When  the  schools  of  Boston  needed  the  touch  of 
a  strong  guiding  hand,  the  leadership  of  some  one 
who  could  free  them  from  the  control  of  the  poli- 
tician and  of  other  forces  which  were  trying  to 
cripple  them,  the  citizens  of  the  old  Puritan  city 
turned  to  Mr.  Capen  as  a  man  of  the  type  who 
could  bring  them  to  the  standard  worthy  of  the 
traditions  of  the  past.  He  was  elected  to  the 
School  Board  in  1888  and  immediately  threw  all 
the  power  of  his  consecrated  personality  into 
these  needed  reforms. 

The  first  urgent  work  before  the  School  Com- 
mittee of  Boston  in  1888  was  the  erection  of  new 
buildings,  to  accommodate  the  children.  The  old 
City  of  the  Puritans  had  always  given  special  at- 
tention to  the  education  of  her  young.  The  free 
church  and  the  free  school  had  been  her  pride  and 
she  had  been  a  leader  in  providing  the  best  equip- 
ment that  skill  and  money  could  obtain.  Between 
1875  and  1887  she  had  built  thirteen  primary 
schools  and  seventeen  grammar  schools.  Then 
certain  interests  that  had  been  opposed  to  the 
public  school  system,  but  had  not  been  successful 

[53] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

in  fighting  it  openly,  gained  secret  control  of  the 
political  machinery  of  the  city  and,  instead  of 
open  opposition,  used  indirect  methods  of  stran- 
gling this  favorite  child  of  our  free  institutions. 
Working  through  the  mayor  and  City  Council 
they  succeeded  in  withholding  all  appropriations 
of  money  for  school  buildings,  apparently  hoping 
to  stop  all  building  until  the  population  should 
so  outgrow  the  accommodations  that  there  would 
be  an  added  argument  for  the  need  of  the  paro- 
chial and  private  school. 

The  city  of  Chicago  built  in  the  old  city  proper, 
between  1886  and  1890,  nineteen  grammar  and 
primary  school  buildings,  at  a  total  cost  of  $1,- 
129,047.  During  the  same  period  the  city  of 
Brooklyn  erected  nineteen  new  school  buildings, 
while  in  Boston,  with  a  rapidly  increasing  popu- 
lation, only  one  new  building  was  added.  As  a  re- 
sult schools  were  overcrowded  and  vacant  stores 
and  rooms  were  rented  to  supply  temporary  needs. 

The  situation  in  one  school  of  the  Dorchester 
district  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  what  was 
the  condition  in  several  school  districts  at  that 
time.  The  building  was  inadequate  for  the  large 
number  of  children,  so  that  rooms  outside  of  the 
school  had  to  be  rented.  One  of  the  grades  was 
placed  in  the  basement  of  a  church.  Two  rooms 
were  rented  in  rickety  tenements,  so  old  that  in 
the  winter  months  the  children  could  look  through 
the  cracks  in  the  walls,  rooms  that  could  not  be 
adequately  heated  and  were  dark  and  in  every 
way  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  school  work.  Still 
another  group  of  the  pupils  was  placed  in  an  old 

[54] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

store,  not  only  unfitted  for  school  work  but  also 
used  as  a  source  of  graft  by  the  politicians.  Apart 
from  the  disadvantage  of  scattering  the  pupils 
over  such  a  wide  territory,  with  the  loss  of  school 
spirit,  was  the  more  serious  fact  that  the  equip- 
ment would  have  been  a  disgrace  to  even  a  back- 
country  school  district.  Yet  there  were  districts 
in  the  city  of  Boston  that  were  worse  than  this 
one. 

With  this  condition  existing  in  the  city,  whose 
boast  had  been  in  her  educational  institutions,  Mr. 
Capen  was  elected  to  the  School  Committee  and 
was  made  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  on 
school  buildings.  Report  was  soon  made  to  the 
City  Council  concerning  the  conditions  confront- 
ing the  Committee,  calling  attention  not  only  to 
the  way  in  which  Boston  was  failing  to  meet  her 
present  needs  but  also  to  the  fact  that  by  with- 
holding her  funds  she  was  failing  to  provide 
adequately  for  the  future.  ' '  To  illustrate,  there  is 
a  portion  of  our  city  very  rapidly  filling  up  at 
the  present  time,  where  in  two  or  three  years 
there  will  be  need  of  both  a  new  grammar  and  a 
new  primary  school.  The  land  could  have  been 
bought  last  winter  for  ten  cents  a  foot.  We  ought 
to  have  been  in  a  position  to  purchase  it;  for, 
when  we  come  to  buy  it,  it  will  have  appreciated 
so  much  that  the  city  will  probably  pay  two  or 
three  times  the  above  price  for  it.  It  seems  un- 
necessary to  say  that  we  ought  not  to  be  so  far* 
behind  with  the  needs  of  today  that  we  cannot 
provide  for  the  certain  needs  of  tomorrow. ' ' 

The  chairman  of  the  Building  Committee 
[55] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

even  suggested  to  the  honorable  Council  that  if 
the  matter  of  erecting  commodious,  well-lighted 
and  well-ventilated  buildings  should  be  submitted 
to  popular  vote,  the  citizens  almost  unanimously 
would  give  their  voice  in  favor  of  this  imperative 
call  for  increased  school  accommodations. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  argument,  the  mayor  and  the 
City  Council  could  not  be  moved.  Something  had 
effectively  blocked  the  wheels  of  progress.  What 
it  was,  many  had  their  suspicions,  but  none  could 
prove.  There  was  money  for  the  politicians  but 
a  very  inadequate  amount  for  the  training  of  the 
children  in  the  schools. 

When  it  was  evident  that  the  money  could  not 
be  secured  and  that  the  city  machinery  was  in 
the  hands  of  some  unseen  power  opposed  to  the 
public  school  system,  Mr.  Capen  carried  the  cause 
into  the  public  press  of  Boston.  Going  in  person 
to  the  editor  of  the  ''Boston  Transcript,"  he  se- 
cured not  only  his  sympathy  but  his  co-operation, 
and  there  began  the  open  controversy  through  the 
columns  of  that  paper  between  Mr.  Capen,  repre- 
senting the  School  Committee,  and  some  one  rep- 
resenting the  mayor  and  Council,  who  signed  his 
name, ' '  A  Boston  School  Boy. ' '  Under  that  name 
the  power  fighting  the  schools  was  hidden  and 
no  one  could  draw  the  enemy  into  the  open. 

For  several  weeks  the  controversy  continued, 
Mr.  Capen  revealing  to  the  public  with  great  skill 
the  actual  state  of  Boston's  schools,  creating  wide 
interest  throughout  the  city,  and  making  a  public 
sentiment  that  could  no  longer  be  resisted. 

"The  plain  truth  is,"  said  an  editorial  in  the 
[56] 


WITH  BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

"Transcript,"  "and  it  may  as  well  be  plainly 
spoken:  Boston's  school  children  would  not  have 
to  wait  for  decent  and  healthful  accommodations 
if  the  Boston  schools  had  in  their  employ  an  army 
of  ward  politicians  and  political  strikers.  There 
is  a  limit  to  the  defiance  which  can  be  safely  put 
upon  intelligent  public  sentiment.  There  is  a  wide 
and  widening,  a  deep  and  deepening  demand  for 
more  schoolhouses.  Whether  City  Hall  knows  it 
or  not,  the  slates  of  the  school  children  are  en- 
titled to  more  consideration  as  well  as  the  slates 
of  the  politicians.  If  no  desk  room  is  provided  for 
the  former  slates,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  some  of 
the  latter  will  be  shattered  in  consequence." 

As  a  result  of  this  agitation  legislation  was  se- 
cured that  enabled  the  School  Committee  to  ob- 
tain funds.  The  politician  and  the  secret  power 
were  completely  routed  and  the  Committee  im- 
mediately formed  plans  for  building  many  of  the 
finest  schoolhouses  of  which  any  city  can  boast. 
The  disgraceful  conditions  were  overcome  and 
with  adequate  equipment  Boston  started  on  a  new 
era  in  her  educational  history. 

The  second  great  achievement  of  the  School 
Committee,  when  Mr.  Capen  was  one  of  its  most 
influential  members,  was  the  introduction  into  the 
Boston  schools  of  manual  training,  an  element  in 
the  education  of  the  child  that  had  its  strong  ad- 
vocates but  no  less  its  opponents.  Mr.  Capen 's  was 
largely  the  voice  that  was  to  speak  to  the  public 
on  this  new  venture,  and  now  that  manual  train- 
ing has  become  a  part  of  our  educational  system, 
it  is  interesting  to  recall  the  reasons  which  were 

[57] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

then  advanced  in  its  favor.  In  an  appeal  made 
through  the  "Boston  Transcript"  for  a  school 
devoted  to  mechanical  training,  Mr.  Capen  ad- 
vanced these  arguments : 

"First,  we  ask  it  as  an  act  of  justice  to  a  large 
class  of  boys  in  our  public  schools.  We  all  point 
with  pride  to  our  Latin  School  with  its  splendid 
record  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
in  fitting  boys  for  professions.  We  have  equal 
satisfaction  with  our  high  schools,  fitting  for  the 
best  places  in  mercantile  life.  But  how  about  the 
boys  who  are  to  enter  the  industrial  world?  Are 
they  not  entitled  to  an  equal  chance ?  Should  they 
not  have,  at  the  public  expense,  provision  for  such 
higher  education  as  will  fit  them  for  advancement 
in  their  chosen  calling?  We  do  not  believe  that  it 
is  right  for  this  city  any  longer  to  make  such  a 
discrimination. 

"Second,  such  schools  are  a  great  moral  force 
in  any  community.  It  has  been  proved  again  and 
again  that  the  best  way,  often  the  only  way,  to 
arouse  the  intellectual  faculties  of  some  boys  is 
through  their  hands.  They  do  not  at  first  care 
for  books.  They  are  listless,  heedless,  indifferent. 
They  are  discouraged  by  repeated  failures,  and 
ready  for  mischief  of  every  sort.  But  when  they 
are  put  before  the  bench  and  the  anvil,  another 
set  of  faculties  is  aroused;  they  begin  to  take 
pride  in  their  work.  In  the  classroom  they  dawdle 
over  the  book,  and  all  the  entreaty  of  the  teacher 
has  no  effect.  But  when  they  stand  before  the 
anvil,  and  the  red-hot  iron  must  be  moulded  that 
instant  or  not  at  all,  then  the  lesson  as  to  the  im- 

[58] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

portance  and  value  of  time  is  driven  home  with 
resistless  power.  So  at  the  carpenter's  bench, 
with  the  drawings  they  have  made,  they  learn  the 
necessity  of  accuracy  and  precision.  The  differ- 
ent parts  must  be  fitted  together.  No  sham  will 
pass,  and  they  have  learned  a  lesson  in  truth. 
Furthermore,  their  work  is  done  in  the  sight  of 
all ;  they  cannot  carry  it  home  and  have  it  worked 
out  by  some  older  brother;  and  they  learn  self- 
reliance  and  true  manliness.  These  faculties  and 
others  that  might  be  named  are  the  very  basis  of 
character.  This  is  not  theorizing;  it  is  the  uni- 
versal result  everywhere. 

"Third,  we  need  this  school  to  properly  com- 
plete the  whole  plan  of  manual  training  in  our 
school  system.  What  is  done  in  our  elementary 
schools  fails  in  its  full  fruitage  and  value  without 
this.  The  kindergarten  system  is  being  generally 
adopted  all  through  the  city.  The  little  child  is 
here  taught  to  think,  to  observe  carefully,  to  be 
persevering,  his  thinking  and  his  efforts  being 
wrought  out  with  his  fingers.  It  has  been  proved 
that  the  child  who  has  been  a  year  in  the  kinder- 
garten has  his  faculties  so  much  quickened  that 
it  is  practically  a  year  in  advance  when  it  enters 
the  primary  school  over  those  who  have  not  had 
this  training.  Going  on  from  this  first  step,  with- 
in the  past  year,  provision  has  been  made  in  the 
course  of  study  to  teach  the  principles  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  manual  training  itself  in  all  our 
primary  schools,  and  primary  teachers  are  being 
instructed  to  this  end.  In  some  of  our  grammar 
schools  the  boys  are  being  taught  the  use  of  tools, 

[59] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

and  the  system  is  to  be  introduced  into  them  all 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  But  it  can  never  be  com- 
plete without  this  high  school.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated again  and  again,  all  over  the  country,  that 
the  college  and  the  seminary  are  necessary  to  lift 
to  a  higher  plane  the  common  school  and  make  it 
more  efficient.  When  in  a  community  there  is  no 
higher  education  the  common  school  is  usually  of 
a  very  inferior  order.  The  same  principle  is  true 
in  the  matter  of  manual  training.  We  need  the 
school  of  the  higher  grade  to  give  completeness  to 
the  whole  system,  and  give  enthusiasm  and  in- 
terest in  it  among  our  pupils. ' ' 

Mr.  Capen  with  his  keen  moral  insight  into  our 
social  order  saw  even  a  deeper  need  for  this  type 
of  education  than  is  advanced  in  the  * '  Transcript ' ' 
article.  Speaking  before  the  School  Committee  he 
said :  ' '  One  of  the  greatest  dangers  to  our  nation 
comes  through  class  distinctions  and  the  errone- 
ous idea  that  those  who  labor  with  their  hands 
are  not  quite  so  high  in  the  social  scale  as  those 
whose  labor  is  more  largely  of  the  brain.  Manual 
training  in  our  schools  is  doing  much  to  correct 
this  false  notion  in  our  children  before  it  becomes 
permanently  fixed.  The  cultivated  teacher,  with 
the  children  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  dressed  alike 
in  the  garb  of  a  toiler,  and  working  together  with 
their  hands,  serves  to  impress  the  truth  that 
manual  labor  is  honorable." 

As  a  result  of  this  continued  agitation,  Mr. 
Capen,  co-operating  with  the  faithful  efforts  of 
other  men  equally  interested,  introduced  manual 
training  not  only  in  our  grammar  schools,  but 

[60] 


WITH  BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

there  came  that  crowning  achievement  of  mechani- 
cal education,  the  establishment  of  the  Mechanic 
Arts  High  School.  In  1891  the  City  Council  ap- 
propriated one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the 
building  of  this  School  and  the  School  Committee 
in  the  same  year  began  to  shape  the  course  of 
study  in  the  elementary  schools  with  this  ad- 
vanced course  in  mind,  so  that  the  boys  who  in- 
tended to  follow  the  industrial  pursuits  should  be 
trained  in  the  best  way  to  avail  themselves  of  this 
new  opportunity.  Cooking  and  sewing  for  girls 
was  introduced  in  the  grammar  schools  and  wood- 
work for  boys.  Mr.  Capen  was  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  and  wrote  the  report,  outlining  a  com- 
plete course  of  study  which  was  to  launch  Boston 
schools  in  this  new  enterprise  and  to  some  extent 
to  revolutionize  our  educational  ideals. 

There  was  still  one  class  of  children  for  whom 
adequate  provision  had  not  been  made,  those  who 
had  never  been  taught  to  obey  in  the  home  and 
were  growing  in  idleness  and  defiance  of  au- 
thority. To  illustrate  the  type :  In  one  school  dis- 
trict was  a  boy  whose  mother  was  dead,  whose 
father  was  rarely  at  home,  his  occupation  being 
to  entice  strangers  from  the  country  into  gam- 
bling dens  where  they  were  robbed  and  he  took 
half  of  the  profit.  This  boy  attempted  to  defy  the 
teacher,  to  demoralize  the  whole  room  when  he 
was  present  and  to  absent  himself  from  the  school 
when  it  pleased  him.  He  was  not  a  criminal  but 
he  would  soon  become  one. 

For  such  boys  there  was  a  truant  school  in  Bos- 
ton Harbor  or  the  reform  schools,  but  many 

[61] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

judges  would  not  send  boys  to  those  schools  be- 
cause they  knew  that  in  contact  with  crime  they 
would  be  ruined.  Hence  such  boys  were  often  al- 
lowed to  remain  in  the  schools,  continuing  in  defi- 
ance of  restraint,  until  they  took  the  first  step  in 
crime,  when  they  were  sent  away  to  be  kept  with 
other  criminals  and  this  meant,  as  a  rule,  that  they 
were  only  to  be  confirmed  in  their  crime. 

Mr.  Capen,  as  chairman  of  the  appropriation 
committee,  had  the  satisfaction  of  presenting  an 
order,  which  was  adopted  by  the  School  Commit- 
tee, "that  the  City  Council  be  requested  to  appro- 
priate one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
land  and  buildings  for  a  parental  school. ' '  It  was 
to  be  "a  school  to  prevent  crime,  not  one  to  cure 
it,"  to  take  the  boy  before  he  became  a  criminal 
and  help  him  to  form  a  character  and  strengthen 
his  will. 

In  characteristic  ways,  Mr.  Capen  had  been 
very  careful  to  prepare  public  opinion  on  this 
matter  before  asking  for  the  appropriation. 
Through  public  utterances  and  articles  for  the 
press,  he  had  fully  acquainted  the  public  with  the 
need  of  such  a  school  and  the  ideal  that  was  to 
dominate  it.  This  was  one  secret  of  his  success. 
He  never  ran  ahead  of  public  opinion,  but  took 
time  to  prepare  it  for  the  work  he  wished  to  ac- 
complish. If  the  matter  in  hand  concerned  only  a 
committee,  and  it  was  a  question  on  which  there 
was  difference  of  opinion,  he  saw  the  members  of 
the  committee,  made  them  familiar  with  his  point 
of  view  and  knew  how  they  were  to  vote  before 
they  came  to  their  meeting.  If  it  was  a  matter 

[62] 


WITH  BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

that  affected  the  public,  he  took  time  to  educate 
them,  using  the  press  freely,  so  that  they  not  only 
saw  a  need  but  became  advocates  of  the  principle. 
All  his  great  causes  were  won  by  personal  inter- 
views, before  his  committees  ever  came  together. 
He  sufficiently  educated  the  public  so  that  when 
he  launched  his  enterprises  it  was  ready  for 
them. 

Through  a  long  series  of  utterances  the  public 
was  prepared  for  this  new  step  in  the  treatment  of 
degeneracy  and  the  City  Council  granted  the  re- 
quest, thus  providing  Boston  with  a  system  of 
schools  that  should  minister  to  every  class  of 
children. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  in  a  large  city  is 
to  keep  the  hand  of  the  politician  from  the  public 
school.  With  the  large  number  of  appointments 
to  be  made  and  the  large  expenditures  of  money, 
this  is  one  of  the  fields  he  most  covets  for  his  self- 
ish purposes. 

In  Boston  for  years  the  appointment  of  janitors 
was  one  of  the  fields  where  the  politician  had  been 
most  active,  and  while  there  were  many  able  men 
in  this  department  of  her  service  there  were  also 
a  large  number  of  incompetents,  who  had  received 
their  appointments  through  political  influence 
rather  than  on  the  ground  of  fitness. 

Mr.  Capen,  keenly  sensitive  to  the  evils  of  this 
system,  was  one  of  the  leaders  who  influenced  the 
General  Court  to  pass  legislation  providing  that 
all  janitors  having  a  salary  of  over  three  hundred 
dollars  a  year  should  before  being  qualified,  first 
be  examined  and  certified  by  the  Civil  Service 

[63] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

Commissioner.  The  practical  working  out  of  this 
law  has  fully  justified  all  that  its  friends  claimed 
for  it  from  the  beginning.  Vacancies  are  filled, 
whenever  they  occur,  either  by  the  promotion  of 
the  best  men  already  in  the  service,  or  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  those  who  have  the  highest  rank  in 
the  competitive  list.  The  effect  has  been  to  relieve 
the  School  Committee  of  all  pressure  of  appoint- 
ments to  be  made  for  political  or  other  selfish  rea- 
sons and  the  whole  service  has  been  placed  upon 
that  higher  plane  where  fitness  and  not  favoritism 
is  the  test  of  all  appointments. 

Probably  one  of  the  most  effective  works  with 
which  Mr.  Capen  was  directly  concerned  in  con- 
nection with  the  educational  system  of  Boston  was 
the  placing  of  teachers  upon  tenure  of  office.  It 
had  been  the  custom  to  elect  teachers  every  year ; 
and  not  only  was  the  teacher  always  uncertain 
about  his  term  of  service,  but  many  times  injus- 
tice was  done  an  able  teacher,  who  had  rendered 
the  highest  work,  on  the  complaint  of  some  of- 
fended parent  who  did  not  think  his  child  had  been 
treated  fairly,  or  by  the  influence  of  some  person 
who  thought  a  teacher  too  active  in  reform 
movements. 

This  incident  is  told  of  one  of  Boston's  ablest 
masters.  One  morning  he  looked  despondent, 
when  a  friend  met  him  and  asked  what  troubled 
him. 

1  'I  haven't  done  my  duty,"  was  the  gloomy 
reply  of  the  master. 

"What  on  earth  do  you  mean!" 

"Haven't  you  seen  the  morning  paper!  I  re- 
[64] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

ceived  last  night  every  confounded  vote  of  the 
School  Committee." 

It  was  a  bit  of  humor  that  represented  a  tragic 
fact.  Not  only  was  the  teacher  often  treated  un- 
justly but  his  conscience  was  often  wronged  by  the 
fact  that  he  was  held  back  from  active  work  in 
many  righteous  causes  for  fear  he  would  offend 
some  politician  who  could  bring  enough  influence 
to  bear  upon  a  not  wholly  responsible  committee 
to  deprive  him  of  his  position. 

Through  an  act  of  the  General  Court,  for  the 
creation  and  passage  of  which  Mr.  Capen  was 
largely  responsible,  this  practice  was  stopped,  and 
all  regular  teachers  were  placed  upon  permanent 
tenure  of  office  to  continue  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
School  Committee.  This  placed  the  teaching  force 
of  Boston  above  the  greed  of  the  politician,  or  the 
spite  of  the  grieved  parent,  and  made  it  possible 
for  teachers  to  retain  their  positions  so  long  as 
character  and  efficient  service  made  them  useful 
to  the  school  system. 

One  thing  which  made  Mr.  Capen  so  useful  to 
the  School  Committee  was  that  he  carried  the 
same  high  business  ideals  into  his  work  for  the 
city  that  he  had  maintained  in  his  private  affairs. 
It  was  this  fact  that  made  him  the  despair  of  the 
politicians.  They  could  not  understand  him.  His 
code  of  conduct  was  so  far  above  their  standard 
of  action,  his  way  of  doing  things  was  so  far  re- 
moved from  graft  and  so-called  practical  politics, 
that  they  not  only  could  not  use  him  for  their  self- 
ish ends  but  did  not  know  how  to  approach  him. 
Constantly  they  found  themselves  defeated  and 

[65] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

put  to  flight  by  his  straightforward  and  righteous 
methods. 

This  could  not  be  more  clearly  illustrated  than 
by  a  transaction  whereby  a  Boston  politician  tried 
to  sell  a  piece  of  land  for  a  school  building.  It 
was  offered  to  the  School  Committee  for  several 
thousand  dollars.  The  deal  was  a  shrewd  politi- 
cal move,  an  unadulterated  piece  of  graft,  and  was 
about  to  pass  the  Committee.  Mr.  Capen  asked 
that  the  matter  might  lie  over  for  a  week  and 
the  request  was  granted.  Then  he  went  in  person 
to  examine  the  ground.  He  found  it  not  only  un- 
desirable, but  he  discovered  a  larger  and  much 
better  lot  a  short  distance  away,  in  a  better  loca- 
tion. He  had  this  lot  surveyed  and  then  secured 
an  option  on  it  for  a  week  at  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  less  than  the  sum  for  which  the  politician 
had  offered  his  land. 

The  next  week  the  question  came  again  before 
the  Committee  and  the  politician  was  present  to 
urge  his  case.  Then,  when  everything  seemed  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  grafter,  Mr.  Capen  asked  him  if 
he  had  ever  noticed  the  lot  across  the  street.  He 
said  he  had.  "Don't  you  think  it  more  favorably 
located  than  the  one  you  offer  ? ' '  asked  Mr.  Capen. 
The  politician  admitted  that  he  thought  it  might 
be  but  urged  that  it  would  be  much  higher  in 
price  and  that  it  was  probably  not  for  sale.  Then 
Mr.  Capen  took  from  his  pocket  the  option  show- 
ing a  saving  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars  to  the 
city  and  presented  it  to  the  Committee. 

This  was  a  way  of  conducting  municipal  affairs 
with  which  the  politicians  were  not  familiar  and 

[66] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

with  which  they  could  not  cope.  Yet  it  was  this 
method  of  doing  business  which  made  one  of  the 
most  experienced  masters  in  the  Boston  schools 
say,  when  Mr.  Capen  was  thinking  of  resigning 
from  the  Committee:  "The  city  could  better  af- 
ford to  pay  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  than  lose 
that  man.  He  has  saved  us  at  least  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  One  hundred  thousand  dollars 
is  but  a  small  fraction  of  what  might  have  been 
saved  the  city  in  the  last  five  years  had  the  ex- 
penditure for  schools  been  in  the  hands  of  men 
like  Mr.  Capen." 

While  his  methods  were  the  despair  of  the  poli- 
tician they  won  the  confidence  of  the  public.  His 
faithful,  honest  services  were  so  appreciated  by 
all  classes  of  citizens  that  in  1891  he  was  re-elected 
a  member  of  the  School  Committee  by  a  larger 
vote  than  was  given  to  any  other  candidate  for 
public  office. 

While  Mr.  Capen 's  service  upon  the  School  Com- 
mittee covered  a  term  of  unprecedented  achieve- 
ment, both  in  securing  new  buildings  and  in  the 
introduction  of  new  methods,  it  stands  much  more 
conspicuously  for  the  development  of  great  per- 
sonalities in  the  teaching  and  supervisory  forces. 
It  was  a  term  of  ardent  public  and  professional 
loyalty  during  which  the  schools  were  brought  to 
a  moral  plane  from  which  they  have  never 
receded. 

While  Mr.  Capen  seemed  to  possess  an  almost 
magic  power  of  bringing  things  to  pass,  accom- 
plishing things  of  which  others  had  despaired, 
there  was  a  moral  contagion  about  his  personality, 

[67] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

as  well  as  a  moral  inspiration  in  his  words,  which 
permeated  the  entire  school  system.  His  ideal  for 
the  teaching  force  is  stated  in  an  address  made 
before  the  School  Committee  in  1893:  "The 
teacher's  power  is  next  to  that  of  the  parent  in 
its  formative  influence  on  childhood,  and  hence 
the  School  Board  is  laying  more  and  more  stress 
upon  the  character  of  its  new  appointments.  Of 
all  the  wise  words  spoken  by  the  late  John  D. 
Philbrick,  none  were  more  true  than  these:  'To 
cultivate  the  conscience,  and  to  strengthen  it  so 
that  it  will  exercise  complete  sway  over  the  life 
and  actions  of  an  individual,  is  the  highest  aim  of 
education;  and  any  system  of  training  the  intel- 
lect which  does  not  embrace  this  is  a  mockery.' 
The  teacher  who  does  not  acknowledge  his  obliga- 
tion to  attend  to  this,  let  his  sentence  be,  'Thou 
art  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting,' 
and  let  his  kingdom  be  taken  from  him. ' ' 

"Mrs.  Alice  Freeman  Palmer  has  most  wisely 
said,  'I  am  such  a  heretic  in  these  latter  days,  that 
I  have  great  sympathy  with  that  Superintendent 
of  Schools  in  a  great  city  who  has  often  talked 
with  me  during  the  past  ten  years  about  the  quali- 
fications he  desired  for  teachers  in  his  schools.  He 
has  said, ' '  I  am  not  going  to  ask  for  deep  learning 
as  the  first  qualification  of  my  teachers.  I  shall 
ask  first,  for  firm,  high,  noble  character;  second, 
for  fine  manners;  third,  for  sound  learning; 
fourth,  for  professional  training. "  It  is  not  only 
the  direct  instruction  given  out  by  the  text-books, 
but  the  silent  moral  influence  of  the  teacher 's  life, 
which  makes  its  power  felt  for  good  in  all  the 

[68] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

years.  Many  a  boy  or  girl  has  gone  from  school 
out  into  the  world's  conflicts,  and  the  hour  of 
temptation  comes.  There  is  a  moment  of  hesita- 
tion and  then  of  victory,  because  of  a  memory  of 
some  faithful  teacher,  the  silent  power  of  whose 
life  is  felt  across  the  years,  and  it  may  be  across 
the  continent.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  power  of 
a  high  moral  life,  and  no  teacher  ever  dies  who  is 
fit  to  live." 

1  i  Character  first,  scholarship  afterwards,  is  the 
order  of  requirement  today  for  every  teacher's 
place  in  this  city,"  became  the  slogan  of  the 
School  Committee.  They  were  more  anxious  to 
know  by  whom  the  children  were  trained  than  to 
know  merely  what  they  were  to  be  taught.  Be- 
lieving that  the  chief  aim  of  education  is  not  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  by  certain  methods  so 
much  as  the  formation  of  a  good  character  under 
the  power  of  uplifting  personalities,  they  were 
resolved  to  prevent  the  entering  of  any  into  the 
service  who  could  not  bear  the  severest  test  in  this 
respect.  "The  teacher's  profession,"  said  Mr. 
Capen,  "is  a  very  sacred  one,  and  those  who  do 
not  thus  consider  it  should  never  be  permitted  to 
enter  it.  On  the  other  hand,  those  now  in  the  serv- 
ice who  do  not  feel  it  to  be  such,  should  leave  it 
forever  to  those  who  have  some  proper  conception 
of  its  supreme  dignity  and  importance. ' ' 

The  demand,  though  always  uncompromising, 
never  seemed  harsh  or  unreasonable.  It  never 
gave  offense,  chiefly  because  it  was  so  evident  that 
Mr.  Capen  was  trying  to  exemplify  in  his  own  life 
what  he  required  of  others.  Men  could  know  him 

[69] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

but  a  short  time  before  they  were  impressed  by 
the  fact  that  he  lived  and  toiled  only  for  the 
things  of  character.  Everything  else  sank  into  in- 
significance in  comparison  with  this  one  great 
quest. 

There  is  always  a  danger  that  this  Puritan  type 
of  conscience  will  become  harsh  and  critical,  creat- 
ing fear  rather  than  affection  in  those  who  work 
under  it;  that  it  will  create  a  man  who  will  rule 
by  the  power  of  a  dominating  will  rather  than  lead 
by  the  attractiveness  of  a  rich  life.  Mr.  Capen 
was  saved  from  this  by  what  has  been  described  as 
1 1  that  enkindling  and  transforming  temper,  which 
forever  sees  in  humanity,  not  that  which  is  bad 
and  hateful,  but  that  which  is  lovable  and  improv- 
able, which  can  both  discern  and  effectually  speak 
to  that  nobler  longing  of  the  soul,  which  is  the 
indestructible  image  of  its  Maker."  His  person- 
ality, as  well  as  his  methods,  inspired  rather  than 
discouraged.  Men  and  women  went  from  his  pres- 
ence desiring  to  be  better  and  to  do  better  work. 

Unconscious,  probably,  that  this  was  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  his  strength — for  it  was  an  ele- 
ment of  character  as  natural  as  the  breath  of  his 
life — he  tried  to  inculcate  this  attitude  in  all  the 
teachers.  "Try  to  discover  that  which  is  best  in 
your  scholars  and  then  inspire  them  to  the  devel- 
opment of  all  that  is  pure  and  ennobling." 

Eecognizing  the  great  service  Mr.  Capen  had 
rendered  to  the  city  of  Boston,  the  citizens  of 
Jamaica  Plain,  where  he  resided,  petitioned  the 
School  Committee  to  name  the  new  and  beautiful 
grammar  school  for  girls  on  Green  Street,  which 

[70] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

had  been  built  through  his  efforts,  the  Samuel 
Billings  Capen  Grammar  School,  and  the  Com- 
mittee granted  the  petition.  It  was  a  great  honor 
and  would  have  served  to  keep  the  memory  of  his 
good  life  before  the  successive  generations  of 
children  who  were  being  prepared  for  citizenship, 
as  well  as  to  provide  a  perpetual  tribute  to  the 
man  who  was  regarded  as  the  first  citizen  of  his 
community. 

Mr.  Capen,  always  keenly  sensitive  to  any  ex- 
pressions of  regard,  and  always  declaring  that  it 
was  better  to  pronounce  a  man's  eulogy  before 
he  died  than  after  his  death,  appreciated  greatly 
the  honor  his  fellow  citizens  and  the  School  Com- 
mittee had  conferred  upon  him,  but  after  careful 
consideration,  and  with  the  wise  foresight  that 
always  characterized  his  actions,  he  declined  to 
have  the  school  named  after  him,  fearing  that  the 
acceptance  might  be  misunderstood,  and  that 
some  might  feel  that  his  efforts  on  the  Board  had 
been  for  some  selfish  motive  and  that  his  useful- 
ness for  the  coming  year  might  be  impaired.  As 
a  guardian  of  a  great  trust  he  was  not  willing  to 
have  his  public  influence  prejudiced  by  any  per- 
sonal honors. 

There  was  also  another  motive,  which  did  not 
find  its  way  into  the  public  press.  Mr.  Capen  saw 
that  if  the  precedent  should  be  established  and 
followed  some  of  our  schools  might  be  named 
after  self-seeking  politicians  whose  influence 
would  be  neither  good  nor  abiding  and  whose 
memory  would  not  be  uplifting  to  the  children. 
The  School  Board  reluctantly  granted  his  request 

[71] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

and  at  Mr.  Capen's  suggestion,  on  December  23rd, 
1890,  the  school  was  named  the  "Bowditch 
School"  in  honor  of  one  of  Boston's  most  re- 
spected citizens,  Nathaniel  Bowditch.  The  Board 
also  passed  the  rule  that  no  school  should  be 
named  in  honor  of  any  living  person. 

It  was  not  until  Mr.  Capen  proposed  in  1893 
to  resign  from  the  School  Committee  that  he 
realized  to  the  full  extent  how  much  his  services 
had  been  appreciated  by  the  citizens  of  Boston 
and  by  the  teachers  of  her  schools.  Letters  and 
personal  requests  poured  upon  him,  asking  that 
he  continue  his  great  work.  The  following  resolu- 
tion was  passed  and  signed  by  every  member  of 
the  School  Committee:  "We,  the  undersigned,  be- 
lieving the  proposed  resignation  of  Samuel  B. 
Capen  from  the  Boston  School  Board  would  be 
very  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  our 
schools,  as  by  his  faithfulness,  efficiency,  and  devo- 
tion he  has  proved  himself  a  most  valuable  mem- 
ber, therefore  earnestly  request  him  to  reconsider 
his  determination." 

The  same  petition  was  signed  by  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-two  teachers  of  the  Boston  Public 
Schools.  This  action  came  in  March,  1893.  The 
expressions  of  appreciation  and  the  petitions  to 
continue  in  office  had  a  great  effect  upon  Mr. 
Capen.  He  felt  truly  that  it  "was  never  given  to 
any  man  anywhere  to  have  his  associates  treat 
him  with  more  kindness  and  more  courtesy  and 
more  generosity  than  you  have  always  treated 
me."  While  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  he  had 
resolved,  owing  to  obligations  that  seemed  to 

[72] 


WITH  BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

make  it  imperative,  to  retire  at  an  early  date,  this 
unanimous  action  caused  him  to  hesitate  and  con- 
sider carefully  where  the  path  of  duty  lay. 

In  September  of  the  same  year,  in  justice  to 
other  interests  and  in  fulfillment  of  other  obliga- 
tions, the  resignation  was  renewed  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  twelfth  he  had  his  last  official  meet- 
ing with  the  School  Committee. 

One  secret  of  the  high  regard  in  which  he  was 
held  by  the  members  of  the  School  Committee 
was  revealed  in  the  speech  made  by  Mr.  Murphy, 
a  Koman  Catholic,  in  seconding  the  motion  to  ac- 
cept the  resignation.  He  spoke  of  the  retiring 
President  as  a  man  of  great  breadth  of  observa- 
tion and  intelligence,  a  man  who  gave  his  whole 
heart  to  his  work,  who,  without  religious  or  po- 
litical bias,  recognized  the  fact  that  public  work 
must  be  based  upon  the  sympathy  of  the  whole 
people. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  last  of  his  influence 
in  school  affairs.  Dr.  "Winship,  editor  of  the 
"Educational  Review,"  who  knew  Mr.  Capen  inti- 
mately, and  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  his 
work,  wrote  after  Mr.  Capen 's  death:  "For  sev- 
eral years  before  he  went  upon  the  School  Com- 
mittee he  dominated  the  selection  of  the  members, 
and  for  some  years  after  he  left  the  Committee 
he  continued  to  be  influential  in  the  selection  of 
the  members,  and  when  at  last  it  seemed  wise  to 
have  new  charter  provisions  with  a  small  com- 
mittee he  was  a  vital  factor  in  securing  the  new 
charter.  All  in  all,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  his 
influence  was  indispensable  in  every  crisis  because 

[73] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

he  had  the  public  confidence  in  all  those  years  to 
an  unprecedented  extent." 

In  an  address  delivered  at  the  time  of  his  resig- 
nation he  said:  "I  would  like  to  urge  that  in  all 
the  future,  in  everything  that  relates  to  the  School 
Board,  the  influence  of  partisanship  and  politics 
shall  never  be  felt.  This  department  which  cares 
for  the  children  is  most  sacred,  and  I  am  glad  to 
feel  that  almost  without  exception,  during  the 
years  of  which  I  have  personal  knowledge,  the 
questions  of  party  and  creed  have  had  no  place. 
Character  and  fitness  have  been  the  only  test  of 
appointment  and  in  the  management  of  such  a 
trust  these  are  the  only  considerations  which 
should  have  any  place. ' ' 

In  this  address  he  gave  expression  to  two  of 
the  most  fundamental  facts  of  his  faith.  He  was  a 
thoroughgoing  American  in  his  attitude  toward 
the  public  school  system,  believing  that  it  should 
be  absolutely  separated  from  the  dominance  of 
any  church,  and  as  firmly  believing  that  the  only 
hope  for  the  future  of  our  republic  was  in  having 
the  children  from  all  classes  of  homes  thrown  into 
this  great  melting-pot  of  American  citizenship. 
1 1 When  I  was  upon  the  School  Committee,"  he 
wrote  in  1896,  "one  of  our  Boston  schools  had 
children  representing  twenty  nationalities;  every 
political  division  except  Greece.  I  have  been  at 
the  school  and  watched  the  teaching  by  sign  lan- 
guage, for  there  was  no  other  method  of  communi- 
cation between  teacher  and  pupil.  And  I  have 
gone  from  those  lower  classes  up  to  the  first  class 
and  seen  those  lads  made  over  into  intelligent, 

[74] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

earnest,  loyal,  American  citizens.  Do  we  realize 
what  our  teachers  are  doing  for  our  city?  We 
divide  up  into  parties  and  sects  in  other  relations. 
But  in  the  public  school  all  barriers  are  down,  the 
rich  and  the  poor  from  homes  of  every  nationality 
and  creed  meet  together  upon  the  same  level, 
fitted  to  bear  their  part  in  the  government  of  our 
city."  He  saw  that  there  was  scarcely  anything 
more  dangerous  than  class  distinctions,  and  noth- 
ing that  tended  to  break  down  this  barrier  so 
thoroughly  as  the  public  schools,  where  children 
of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  of  the  Protestant,  Cath- 
olic, Jew  and  unbeliever  met  upon  the  same  level. 
Hence  he  never  ceased  to  raise  his  voice  against 
the  private  school  of  whatever  church  or  class  and 
never  failed  to  use  an  opportunity  to  urge  parents 
of  all  classes  to  send  their  children  to  this  great 
unifier  of  our  heterogeneous  population. 

Even  more  intense,  if  such  a  thing  were  pos- 
sible, was  his  interest  in  keeping  the  hand  of  the 
politician  from  the  school  system,  the  man  whose 
interest  was  not  in  the  child  but  in  nominating  this 
man  or  that  to  keep  the  party  machinery  running 
smoothly  and  in  filling  the  pockets  of  the  political 
parasites. 

To  prevent  this  the  Public  School  Association 
was  organized.  In  1895  there  was  so  much  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  nominations  for  the  School 
Committee  that  several  gentlemen  met  together, 
among  whom  Mr.  Capen  was  one  of  the  leaders, 
to  suggest  the  names  of  Mr.  A.  Lawrence  Lowell 
and  Mr.  Ames.  Each  of  the  parties  took  one  of 
these  names  and  they  were  both  elected. 

[75] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

The  following  year  there  was  a  similar  meeting 
of  gentlemen,  especially  interested,  and  they  sug- 
gested to  the  parties  the  names  of  Prof.  Sedgwick 
and  Mrs.  Morton  Kehew.  The  parties  refused  to 
nominate  either  of  them.  The  following  year  the 
names  of  Prof.  Sedgwick  and  Miss  Edith  Howes 
were  suggested  to  the  parties,  and  they  were  again 
refused.  It  was  then  decided  to  organize  the  Pub- 
lic School  Association.  What  else  could  be  done? 
Suggestions  made  in  an  honest  way  for  two  years 
had  been  rejected.  The  Association  thus  being 
formed,  it  was  decided  to  renominate  five  of  the 
old  members  of  the  School  Committee. 

At  that  time  only  one  of  these  was  taken  by 
either  party.  The  following  year,  not  wishing  to 
seem  presumptuous,  the  Association  simply  sug- 
gested candidates  and  waited  for  the  parties  to 
take  the  initiative.  The  result  was  most  unsatis- 
factory. Having  tried  every  plan,  therefore,  the 
members  of  the  Public  School  Association  were 
compelled  to  take  an  entirely  different  course  and 
nominate  a  ticket  of  their  own.  They  were  forced 
to  this  position  by  the  leaders  of  the  parties  at 
that  time,  who,  as  long  as  they  could  feel  that 
the  Public  School  Association  had  but  few  votes, 
had  no  interest  in  what  it  had  to  say. 

This  first  year  in  which  they  put  up  a  complete 
ticket  five  of  the  Public  School  Association  can- 
didates were  elected,  including  Mr.  George  A. 
Ernst,  who  was  nominated  by  neither  of  the  par- 
ties. The  following  year  the  Public  School  Asso- 
ciation again  put  up  a  complete  list,  eight  persons 
for  three  years,  and  two  persons  for  one  year. 

[76] 


WITH   BOSTON   SCHOOLS 

This  year  the  Republican  party  indorsed  the 
whole  ticket  of  the  Association,  the  Democrats  ap- 
proved of  five  candidates  and  seven  that  were  on 
the  Association  ticket  were  elected.  The  follow- 
ing year  the  Republicans  again  approved  the 
whole  Public  School  Association  ticket.  The 
Democrats  approved  three.  Four  names  that  were 
on  the  Association  ticket  were  elected. 

Probably  nothing  ever  organized  in  Boston  did 
as  much  to  save  the  schools  from  the  waste  and 
deterioration  inevitable  under  the  rule  of  the  poli- 
tician. To  the  last  of  his  life  Mr.  Capen  continued 
to  be  one  of  the  dominating  figures  in  this  work, 
helping  to  nominate  the  members  of  the  commit- 
tee and  by  public  utterance  and  busy  pen  he  con- 
tributed much  toward  their  election. 

In  1900  he  made  a  stirring  address  in  which  he 
uttered  a  warning  that  ought  to  be  heard  by  every 
citizen  of  the  country:  "It  is  for  the  highest  in- 
terest of  rich  and  poor  alike  that  there  should  be 
good  schools.  Only  a  little  handful  of  men  can 
possibly  reap  any  advantage  in  having  them  in- 
ferior. It  has  been  my  belief  for  many  years 
that  our  citizens  as  a  whole  do  not  fully  realize 
the  importance  of  our  educational  system.  We 
have  welcomed  to  our  shores  men  of  every  race 
and  clime  and  their  children  fill  our  schools. 
Twelve  or  fifteen  nationalities  are  often  repre- 
sented in  a  single  school.  It  is  in  these  schools 
that  they  learn  the  meaning  of  American  citizen- 
ship. But  even  more  than  this,  many  children 
come  from  homes  of  poverty  and  wretchedness 
and  too  often  of  sin  and  shame.  Do  we  realize  the 

[77] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

importance  at  this  early  formative  period  of  an 
antidote  to  these  unhealthy  surroundings,  by  hav- 
ing finely  equipped  school  buildings  with  modern 
sanitary  arrangements  and  teachers  of  culture 
and  refinement?  With  the  greatly  enlarged 
powers  of  the  school  committee,  the  politician  has 
seen  the  possibility  of  building  in  a  few  years  a 
great  political  machine  centering  around  the 
Board.  The  Committee  is  no  longer,  as  formerly, 
simply  an  educational  body,  and  naturally  posi- 
tions are  sought  by  some  men  who  would  have  lit- 
tle wish  to  be  there  if  it  were  not  for  these 
increased  powers." 


[781 


CHAPTER  VI 

PRESIDENT  OF  BOSTON  MUNICIPAL 
LEAGUE 

The  city  has  became  the  peril  of  our  American 
life.  The  first  great  contest  in  our  country  was 
over  the  independence  of  a  nation  and  was  settled 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  at  Yorktown 
by  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis.  The  second  con- 
test was  over  the  unity  of  the  republic  and  was 
settled  nearly  fifty  years  ago  at  Appomatox  Court 
House  by  the  surrender  of  General  Lee's  army. 
The  third  great  question  is  over  the  purity  of  the 
municipal  unit  and  it  is  more  serious  and  more  im- 
portant than  either  of  the  others;  it  touches  our 
very  life  and  our  very  existence. 

Thirty  years  ago  this  fact  concerning  the  Amer- 
ican city  was  just  coming  to  be  recognized  by  a  few 
of  the  most  thoughtful  and  conscientious  of  our 
Christian  leaders.  The  mass  of  laymen  were 
neither  indifferent  to  the  problem  nor  skeptical 
concerning  the  belief  that  anything  could  be  done 
to  better  conditions.  Some  of  them  were  in  open 
opposition  to  any  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Church 
to  ' '  meddle  in  politics. ' '  They  believed  their  busi- 
ness was  to  herald  the  "simple  gospel,"  that 
abominable  phrase  which  has  been  used  as  the 
covering  for  dead  men's  bones.  A  few  of  the 
leaders  of  our  American  religious  life,  who 

[79] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

have  come  to  be  regarded  as  prophets,  were 
then  counted  by  multitudes  as  heretics  or,  at 
least,  as  men  who  were  "not  quite  safe  to 
follow." 

Mr.  Capen,  whose  religious  faith  was  never 
questioned,  and  who  had  the  advantage  of  holding 
the  confidence  of  laymen,  became  one  of  the 
leaders  in  this  new  movement  toward  saving  the 
city.  In  1892  he  delivered  an  address  before 
the  Congregational  Club  of  Boston  in  which  he 
awakened  enough  interest  to  start  one  of  the  most 
vital  movements  toward  cleaner  politics  that 
Boston  has  ever  had.  He  said:  "I  believe  the 
time  has  fully  come  when  in  all  our  cities  the 
churches,  as  a  whole,  must  find  a  way  to  have  their 
influence  felt  in  securing  a  proper  municipal  gov- 
ernment. We  are  asleep,  most  of  us,  in  the  midst 
of  perils  nearly  as  great  as  those  which  confronted 
us  in  the  Civil  War.  Wendell  Phillips  said  that 
the  search  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  our 
great  cities  will  test  our  free  institutions  more 
severely  than  our  struggle  with  human  slavery.  It 
is  a  shame  the  way  some  of  us  neglect  these  public 
interests.  We  live  in  a  time  when  there  is  a 
decay  of  public  spirit.  We  should  consider  it 
an  act  of  patriotism  for  the  right  men  to  give  up 
their  time  and  strength  for  public  service.  We 
ought  to  lay  hold  of  some  of  our  young  men  who 
are  especially  fitted  for  such  service,  and  make 
them  see  that  this  duty,  for  Christ's  sake 
and  the  country's,  is  as  sacred  as  the  prayer- 
meeting.  The  Church  must  come  to  the  position 
where  it  shall  be  considered  as  honorable  for  one 

[80] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE 

of  its  members  to  be  an  official  in  the  city 
government  as  to  be  a  church  warden  or  a 
deacon. 

"A  Governor  of  one  of  our  States  has  lately 
been  reported  to  have  said  that  'personal  char- 
acter has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  the 
Presidency ;  it  is  simply  one  of  availability. '  Have 
you  read  'Boss'  Crocker's  article  in  the  'North 
American,'  in  which  he  fully  justifies  Tammany 
methods?  No  wonder  that  Dr.  Parkhurst's 
righteous  soul  is  stirred  to  expose  the  evils  that 
are  so  defiant !  And  who  is  to  blame  for  this  con- 
dition of  things  ?  You  may  remember  a  few  years 
ago  when  the  present  District  Attorney  in  New 
York  was  a  candidate  for  his  office  against  a  man 
who  had  been  faithful  and  successful  in  his  ef- 
forts to  bring  to  justice  the  'boodle  Alderman' 
of  that  day.  When  that  election  came,  and  when 
it  would  seem  as  though  every  man  would  rejoice 
in  an  opportunity  to  vote  and  show  his  interest  in 
the  right,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  church  mem- 
bers did  not  take  the  trouble  either  to  register  or 
to  vote.  On  Fifth  Avenue  from  Fortieth  to  Sixty- 
eighth  Street  there  were  three  solid  miles  of 
brownstone  fronts,  and  yet  how  many  men  who 
lived  in  these  houses  voted  at  that  election?  Only 
twenty-eight !  Such  a  neglect  is  more  than  a  dis- 
grace and  it  ought  to  be  made  a  crime.  In  many 
of  our  wards  there  are  several  hundreds  of  voters 
who  are  members  of  our  churches.  If  you  get 
fifty  of  them  out  to  a  primary  meeting  you  do 
well,  and  yet  we  all  know  that  here  is  the  place 
to  begin.  It  only  takes  a  comparatively  few  men 

[81] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

to  break  up  the  plans  of  the  '  rings '  if  the  few  are 
in  earnest." 

The  result  of  this  address  was  the  forming  of 
the  Pilgrim  Association,  an  organization  which 
was  of  short  duration  but  which  became  the  first 
step  in  the  foundation  of  the  Boston  Municipal 
League. 

The  object  of  the  Association  was  "to  secure 
the  choice  of  such  men  to  public  office,  the  enact- 
ment and  enforcement  of  such  measures  for  mu- 
nicipal government  as  shall  best  promote  the  good 
order,  prosperity  and  honor  of  our  city.  To  this 
end  the  Association  will  co-operate  as  far  as  pos- 
sible with  all  religious  denominations  and  all  civic 
and  philanthropic  organizations  in  the  city. ' ' 

In  February  of  the  next  year,  1893,  Mr.  Capen 
spoke  before  the  Baptist  Social  Union,  where  he 
set  forth  a  plan  for  a  city  reform  organization 
which  would  include  every  society  in  Boston  de- 
voted to  idealistic  ends.  A  practical  politician  in 
New  York  once  said:  "It's  great  sport  to  see 
people  go  to  the  polls  in  hordes  and  vote  like  cattle 
for  the  ticket  we  prepare.  Eeformers  don't  begin 
at  the  right  point ;  they  should  begin  at  the  point 
where  nominations  are  made.  The  people  think 
they  make  the  nominations,  but  we  do  that  busi- 
ness for  them." 

Mr.  Capen  felt  that  the  same  thing  was  true 
in  Boston.  "Are  we  not  about  weary  of  voting 
for  men  who  go  around  with  hat  in  hand  in  a 
shameless  way,  asking  for  our  votes,  some  of 
whom  we  would  not  trust  in  our  business  to  hold 
any  position  whatever?  We  live  in  an  age  where 

[82] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

there  is  such  a  mad  haste  to  be  rich,  when  self- 
ish interests  are  so  supreme,  that  there  is  a  de- 
cay of  public  spirit,  and  patriotism  is  not  quoted 
at  par  in  any  of  our  public  exchanges. ' ' 

As  a  result  of  this  feeling,  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Capen,  the  Pilgrim  Association  chose  a 
committee  of  seven  members  on  municipal  reform, 
desiring  that  every  club  or  association  standing 
for  the  best  things  in  municipal  life,  should  choose 
a  similar  committee.  "There  are  from  ten  to 
twenty  of  these  organizations  and  if  each  one 
will  choose  a  committee  of  five  or  seven  members, 
dependent  somewhat  upon  the  number  of  mem- 
bers in  each  case,  there  will  be  thus  brought  to- 
gether a  total  of  fifty  or  seventy-five  men  from 
all  parts  of  the  city  and  standing  for  its  best  in- 
terest. By  a  simple  organization,  and  coming  to- 
gether from  time  to  time  for  mutual  consultation 
and  help  as  representing  these  various  organiza- 
tions, they  could  wield  an  immense  influence  for 
good.  Some  say  this  is  an  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  to  enter  politics.  We  deny  that  this  is 
its  purpose  in  any  way.  For  any  branch  of  the 
Church,  as  such,  to  enter  into  such  a  movement,  is 
an  offence  to  our  people.  The  intent  is  to  take 
advantage  of  the  associations  and  clubs  already 
formed,  which  represent  the  conscience  and  the 
philanthropy  of  the  city,  and  make  them  through 
their  representatives,  a  united  power  for  good. 
For  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  this  whole 
movement  starts  with  the  one  idea  to  confine  itself 
wholly  to  municipal  matters,  and  have  no  part 
whatever  in  National  or  State  affairs.  In  this 

[83] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

way  it  is  believed  it  can  be  kept  entirely  free  from 
anything  which  savors  of  'polities'  so  called. 
People  are  getting  weary  of  partisanship,  and  to 
govern  cities  along  political  lines  is  as  absurd  as 
to  control  a  railroad  or  a  bank  in  this  way. ' ' 

There  was  an  enthusiastic  response  throughout 
Boston  to  this  appeal  and,  as  a  result,  the  follow- 
ing organizations  came  together  on  November  9, 
1893,  to  form  the  Boston  Municipal  League :  The 
Pilgrim  Association,  Baptist  Social  Union,  Meth- 
odist Social  Union,  Unitarian  Club,  Massachusetts 
Society  for  Promoting  Good  Citizenship,  Chan- 
ning  Club,  Tolstoi  Club,  the  old  Boston  Congre- 
gational Club,  Young  Men's  Baptist  Social 
Union,  Monday  Evening  Club,  the  Catholic  Union 
and  the  Eliot  Club.  Mr.  Capen  was  elected  presi- 
dent and  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead  secretary. 

The  new  organization  represented  men  of  every 
shade  of  political  opinion  on  State  and  National 
questions  but  men  who  believed  also  that  in  city 
affairs  the  need  was  simply  for  business  methods 
and  good  leaders.  "We  must  remember,"  said 
Mr.  Capen,  "that  neither  of  the  two  great  parties 
has  any  special  principles  to  guide  in  municipal 
affairs.  Their  principles  apply  almost  wholly  to 
National  and  State  interests ;  but  men  have  been 
so  much  accustomed  in  all  the  past  to  work  on 
party  lines,  even  in  municipal  matters,  that  much 
time  will  be  required  before  they  will,  in  sufficient 
numbers,  be  willing  to  vote  individually  on  mu- 
nicipal election  issues.  This  League  is  to  be  abso- 
lutely non-partisan,  and  its  discussions  are  limited 
to  questions  relating  to  municipal  matters.  We 

[84] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

are  not  organized  for  the  political  advancement 
of  our  own  members,  for  we  have  no  wish  for 
public  office.  We  are  trying,  first,  to  understand 
better  the  problems  of  municipal  government  and 
then  to  be  helpful  in  solving  them.  We  have, 
therefore,  no  desire  at  present  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  office,  provided  men  of  character  and 
persons  fit  for  public  trust  are  nominated  by 
others.  When  this  is  not  the  case,  we  shall  make 
our  protest  by  suggesting,  if  possible,  other 
names.  It  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  add  that 
in  a  movement  of  this  kind  there  would  be  no  use 
or  place  for  the  local  'boss'  and  the  ward  politi- 
cian of  either  party.  They  are,  as  a  class,  truly 
selfish ;  they  are  only  for  themselves  and  they  have 
no  place  in  a  business  corporation. ' ' 

The  League  was  equally  free  from  sectarian 
prejudices — the  membership  being  composed  of 
liberals  and  conservatives,  Protestants  and  Cath- 
olics— though  it  could  in  the  highest  sense  be 
called  religious.  It  was  part  of  a  great  movement 
sweeping  over  this  country,  probably  the  most  im- 
portant that  had  come  to  the  American  people 
since  the  overthrow  of  slavery.  The  men  who  com- 
posed it  believed  with  De  Tocqueville  that  "  mu- 
nicipal institutions  are  to  liberty  what  the  primary 
school  is  to  science,"  and  that  the  only  way 
America  could  be  saved  was  by  saving  her  cities. 
They  were  for  the  most  part  avowed  Christian 
men,  most  of  them  members  of  the  Christian 
Church,  but  men  who  believed  that  Christianity 
was  good  only  as  it  was  good  for  something,  only 
as  it  could  be  made  part  of  the  practical  affairs 

[85] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

of  life  and,  almost  with  the  spirit  of  crusaders, 
embodying  their  religion  in  their  politics,  they 
determined  to  capture  the  city  for  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

Being  religious  men  they  had  profound  faith 
in  the  principle  set  forth  by  the  great  Teacher, 
"Know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free."  Their  chief  weapon  was  facts  and  their 
great  hope  was  in  public  opinion.  Mr.  Capen  de- 
clared in  his  opening  address  before  the  League : 
"Public  opinion  can  be  depended  upon  always  in 
favor  of  the  best  things.  Mr.  Moorfield  Storey 
was  right  when  he  said  at  the  Philadelphia  con- 
vention that  we  should  be  surprised  'if  we  could 
in  each  city  see  the  photographs  of  men  who  con- 
stitute the  "rings"  of  which  we  complain  and 
could  read  their  histories;  we  would  be  ashamed 
of  our  subjection.  Municipal  reform  is  only  ac- 
tion of  will.'  It  certainly  is  true  that  there  are 
far  more  good  men  in  every  city  than  there  are 
bad,  and  that  the  number  who  desire  a  corrupt 
government  is  very  small.  The  poor  man  is  even 
more  interested  than  the  rich  in  good  city  gov- 
ernment. He  needs  good  public  schools  for  he 
is  obliged  to  send  his  children  to  them  while  the 
rich  man,  if  he  is  dissatisfied,  can  send  his  to  some 
private  institution.  The  poor  man,  especially, 
needs  clean  streets  and  good  sewerage  for  he  must 
stay  in  the  city  through  the  heat  of  the  summer 
while  the  rich  man  can  take  his  family  to  the 
mountains  or  the  seashore.  We  only  need  to  get 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  best  things  to  work 
together  and  the  whole  problem  is  solved." 

[86] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Municipal  League, 
after  its  reorganization,  the  President  set  forth  in 
characteristic  clearness  a  program  he  believed 
it  should  follow.  It  was  revolutionary  so  far 
as  the  political  organization  of  the  city  was  con- 
cerned, striking  at  the  very  roots  of  those  things 
that  had  made  possible  bribery  and  political 
corruption. 

Boston  had  always  elected  a  mayor  for  a  term 
of  one  year  but  Mr.  Capen  proposed  that  he 
should  be  elected  for  three  years.  "All  citizens 
would  feel  more  strongly  the  importance  of  the 
election,  if  it  was  to  be  filled  for  a  longer  term, 
than  they  do  now.  Many  people  cannot  be  aroused 
when  the  election  is  an  annual  one.  Furthermore, 
the  Mayor  himself  would  be  less  worked,  would 
be  more  free  from  the  influence  of  politicians, 
would  be  better  able,  also,  to  do  the  best  things, 
if  he  was  conscious  that  the  term  was  for  three 
years. ' ' 

The  second  radical  reform  proposed  was  that 
there  should  be  one  representative  council  instead 
of  two.  The  arguments  used  for  continuing  the 
two  bodies  were :  first,  that  it  would  be  more  dif- 
ficult to  corrupt  two  bodies  than  one ;  and,  second, 
that  one  acts  as  a  check  upon  the  other.  In  answer 
to  this,  it  was  argued  that  if  there  was  but  one 
body  it  should  be  of  such  size  as  not  to  be  easily 
susceptible  to  improper  considerations,  and  that 
it  should  be  provided  that  all  appropriations  and 
all  questions  of  great  importance  should  not  be 
acted  upon  without  two  readings,  which  should 
take  place  several  days  apart  to  give  opportunity 

[87] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

to  citizens   through  the   press  and  otherwise   to 
make  protest  if  occasion  should  require  it. 

The  most  far-reaching  reform  suggested  in  this 
address  was  that  there  should  be  some  sort  of 
minority  representation.  ''The  principle  of  hav- 
ing one  man  or  a  group  of  men  from  each  district, 
which  practically  disfranchises  nearly  or  quite 
one  half  the  voters,  is  wrong.  When  a  Bepub- 
lican  votes  in  a  Democratic  district  for  local  rep- 
resentatives, his  vote  is  thrown  away,  and  in  the 
same  manner  when  a  Democrat  votes  in  a  Repub- 
lican district  his  vote  is  thrown  away.  To  illus- 
trate the  injuries  of  this  matter  let  me  use  figures 
which  will  be  familiar.  In  Maryland  one  party 
cast  92,000  votes  and  the  other  113,000  votes,  and 
the  latter  had  all  the  representation,  while  the 
92,000  votes  had  no  voice.  In  Indiana  at  the  last 
national  election  one  party  cast  254,000  and  the 
other  259,000  votes,  an  almost  equal  number,  and 
yet  one  party  had  but  two  representatives  and 
the  other  eleven.  The  same  state  of  things  exists 
in  our  cities  where  there  is  a  district  system.  As  a 
consequence,  men  remain  away  from  the  caucus 
and  the  polls  because  they  know  that  their  votes 
amount  to  nothing.  Furthermore,  on  the  district 
plan,  both  parties  would  often  nominate  the  avail- 
able and  not  the  able  man.  Men  of  positive  con- 
victions and  force  make  enemies  and  cannot  be 
elected  in  their  own  district  but  by  a  general  rep- 
resentation they  can  be.  Again,  reform  measures 
cannot  get  a  hearing  for  they  have  no  representa- 
tion, and  cannot  have  until  they  can  secure  a 
majority  in  some  one  district.  But  if  all  those 

[88] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

interested  who  are  scattered  through  a  city  will 
unite  on  some  one  man  then  the  reform  would  be 
represented  and  would  be  sure  of  a  hearing.  Giv- 
ing up  the  district  system  as  a  whole  and  voting 
for  officials  on  a  general  ticket  would  be  a  death 
blow  to  bribery,  which  almost  universally  occurs 
in  close  districts.  Where  there  are  no  close  dis- 
tricts, there  would  be  no  inducement  to  purchase 
votes.  On  the  new  plan  we  shall  have  more  of 
what  could  be  called  larger  and  better  men.  A  man 
may  appear  quite  important  in  a  little  district, 
but  he  is  very  small  when  he  has  to  run  the  gaunt- 
let of  a  large  city.  On  such  a  plan,  men  in  office 
would  not  be  obliged  to  spend  so  much  time  in  pos- 
ing and  balancing  their  votes  so  as  to  make  sure 
of  their  re-election.  In  doing  their  duty  they 
would  be  sure  of  the  support  of  the  best  citi- 
zens whose  influence  would  be  felt  at  the  next 
election. ' ' 

In  addition  to  the  work  of  making  these  radi- 
cal changes  in  the  political  organization  of  the 
city,  the  League  proposed  the  larger  work  of 
creating  such  a  civic  pride  that  the  best  men  of 
the  city  would  be  willing  to  accept  public  office. 
Public  opinion  was  such  that  when  good  men  made 
sacrifices  of  their  private  affairs  to  serve  the  pub- 
lic they  were  often  subject  to  the  sneers  of  their 
friends.  The  League  proposed  to  change  this — 
to  make  them  feel  that  it  was  just  as  honorable 
to  serve  the  city  government  as  to  be  a  director 
in  a  bank  or  a  professor  in  Harvard  College. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood,"  said  Mr. 
Capen,  "for  I  have  no  sympathy  with  a  hasty 

[89] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

expression  that  is  sometimes  heard,  that  there  are 
no  good  men  in  public  life.  My  experience  has 
proved  to  me  that  there  are  just  as  honest  and 
capable  men  in  municipal  positions  in  the  City  of 
Boston  today  as  there  ever  were  in  the  past.  The 
trouble  is  that  there  are  too  many  of  whom  this 
cannot  be  said  in  truth. 

1  'Our  work  is  to  increase  the  number  of  those  in 
public  life  who  can  be  absolutely  trusted  to  watch 
over  the  city's  interests  as  they  would  their  own. 
We  want,  if  possible,  to  have  the  same  interest 
taken  by  a  class  of  our  citizens  as  is  seen  across 
the  water.  The  personnel  of  the  London  City 
Council  is  said  to  be  equal  in  character  and  ability 
to  members  of  Parliament.  In  the  City  of  Oxford 
two  presidents  of  colleges  are  members  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  In  Germany  it  is  demanded 
that  the  performance  of  civic  duties  shall  deter- 
mine civic  rights;  failure  to  perform  the  one  de- 
prives of  the  other.  In  the  City  of  Berlin,  if  a 
man  refuses  to  accept  office  when  called  upon  by 
his  fellow  citizens,  he  is  not  only  disfranchised  but 
compelled  to  pay  larger  taxes.  Ought  there  not 
to  be  a  list  made  from  the  registration  list  after 
election  of  those  who  have  not  voted?  And  ought 
not  a  constant  neglect  of  suffrage  be  punished  by 
a  fine?  Certainly  some  way  must  be  found  to 
make  people  ashamed  of  the  neglect  of  their  duty 
as  citizens." 

The  urging  of  this  program  was  not  all  that 
engaged  the  energies  of  the  League.  It  gave  its 
attention  to  a  large  number  of  problems  that  were 
of  vital  interest  to  the  citizens,  such  as  the  im- 

[90] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

provement  of  the  fire  department,  the  extension 
of  school  accommodations,  a  better  and  enlarged 
system  of  docks,  better  housing  of  the  poor,  a 
school  of  practical  trades  and  a  wiser  administra- 
tion of  public  institutions.  This  program,  how- 
ever, outlined  the  greatest  activities  of  the 
League  and  made  this  body,  as  Mr.  Edwin  D. 
Mead  has  declared,  "the  best  municipal  organiza- 
tion that  we  have  ever  had  in  Boston." 

Mr.  Capen  was  a  firm  believer  in  representative 
government.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Republican,  op- 
posing in  his  last  years  many  of  the  Progressive 
tendencies,  but  in  political  theory  he  had  un- 
bounded confidence  in  the  principles  at  the  foun- 
dation of  our  government,  and  he  never  doubted 
that  the  voice  of  the  people  was  the  voice  of  God, 
if  the  people  only  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  learn 
the  truth. 

Believing  this,  no  man  ever  had  more  confidence 
in  the  power  of  public  opinion — that  public  opin- 
ion would  be  right — if  the  facts,  free  from  preju- 
dice and  deception,  could  only  be  placed  before 
the  people.  Hence  his  speeches  were  usually 
printed,  so  that  they  might  reach  a  wider  public 
than  could  be  touched  by  the  spoken  word,  and 
those  delivered  before  the  Municipal  League  were 
given  very  wide  circulation.  Thus  his  written  and 
spoken  words  became  great  factors  in  moulding 
the  thought  of  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  and 
later  were  very  largely  embodied  in  the  new 
charter  of  Boston.  The  term  of  the  mayor  was 
lengthened  and  the  single  chamber  in  the  Council 
was  adopted.  Many  other  reforms  advocated  by 

[91] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

Mr.  Capen  and  his  fellow  workers  were  accepted 
and,  while  the  League  ceased  to  be  an  active 
organization,  it  was  a  mighty  forerunner,  prepar- 
ing the  thought  of  men  for  a  later  reform — espe- 
cially for  minority  representation. 

In  one  of  his  speeches  before  the  League,  Mr. 
Capen  pointed  out  the  extremely  interesting  fact 
that  the  expenses  of  Boston  had  grown  until  they 
exceeded  those  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. With  an  enormous  volume  of  money 
to  be  collected  and  dispersed  from  year  to  year, 
he  showed  that  the  voters  and  tax-payers 
of  Boston  were  entrusting  the  financial  interests 
of  the  municipal  corporation  to  men  of  small  expe- 
rience and  ability  in  business  operations.  Boston 
had  two  separate  representative  bodies — a  small 
Board  of  Aldermen  and  a  large  Common  Coun- 
cil. A  half  dozen  members  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men paid  no  taxes  whatever,  except  the  poll  tax, 
which  is  levied  against  every  citizen,  and  out  of 
seventy-five  members  of  the  Common  Council  only 
sixteen  were  on  the  tax  lists.  Yet  this  body  of 
seventy-five  was  largely  concerned  with  the  levy- 
ing of  many  millions  of  taxes  every  year  and  with 
the  expenditure  of  from  thirty  to  forty  millions  of 
dollars.  To  remedy  this  great  defect  and  secure 
a  better  class  of  men  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
so  great  a  corporation  as  the  city,  Mr.  Capen  and 
the  League  declared  boldly  in  favor  of  the  total 
abolition  of  the  Common  Council  and  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  the  municipal 
chamber  to  perhaps  twenty-five  members,  with 
salaries  of  three  thousand  dollars  each  and  an  al- 

[92] 


BOSTON   MUNICIPAL   LEAGUE 

lowance  for  expenses.  Under  the  arrangement 
which  existed  at  that  time  the  members  of  the 
Common  Council  ran  up  most  extraordinary  bills 
for  carriage  hire  and  other  expenses,  incurred  os- 
tensibly in  the  municipal  sendee. 

But  the  great  principle  for  which  Mr.  Capen 
and  the  League  contended  most  earnestly  was  the 
election  of  all  members  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment on  a  general  ticket  recognizing  a  propor- 
tional representation.  Mr.  Capen  was  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  figures  advocating  proportional 
representation  in  the  entire  country  and  the 
League  had  for  the  chairman  of  its  committee  on 
that  subject  Mr.  Moorfield  Storey,  who  was 
widely  recognized  as  an  authority.  It  was  natural 
that  Boston,  of  all  cities  of  the  United  States, 
should  be  the  one  to  set  the  example  of  an  appli- 
cation of  some  form  of  minority  or  proportional 
representation  in  the  election  of  a  City  Council. 
Massachusetts  was  the  home  of  enlightened  and 
progressive  legislation  and  the  whole  country  was 
looking  to  Mr.  Capen  and  his  colleagues  for  the 
securing  of  some  such  system  which  would  guar- 
antee a  better  government,  t 

The  "New  England  Magazine"  said:  "Mr. 
Capen  is  an  ideal  citizen,  a  man  of  broad  mind 
and  of  great  catholicity,  of  kindliness,  of  rare 
political  sagacity,  with  a  passion  for  public  purity 
and  the  public  welfare,  and  with  an  infinite  ca- 
pacity for  taking  pains.  Ten  such  men  could  save 
any  Sodom  or  Gomorrah.  No  other  man  in  recent 
years  has  rendered  such  important  service  as  Mr. 
Capen  on  the  Boston  School  Board.  Wherever 

[93] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

any  improvement  for  the  good  of  Boston  is  in 
progress,  there  he  is  likely  to  be  found." 

While  this  League  did  not  wholly  save  the 
modern  Sodom  of  Boston,  no  group  of  men  has 
ever  gathered  in  the  city  which  has  done  more  to- 
ward shaping  its  future.  The  principles  they  ad- 
vocated were  later  embodied  in  the  new  charter 
and  while  the  League,  after  a  few  years  of  strenu- 
ous service,  ceased  its  activities,  owing  largely  to 
the  fact  that  its  work  was  subdivided  and  carried 
forward  by  other  organizations,  the  main  prin- 
ciples for  which  it  stood  are  today  the  working 
principles  of  the  Boston  city  government. 

Not  only  did  Mr.  Capen  do  very  important  work 
as  President  of  the  Boston  Municipal  League  but, 
also,  in  the  National  Municipal  League.  For  ten 
years,  from  1895  to  1905,  he  was  its  Vice-presi- 
dent. He  occupied  important  places  in  its  pro- 
grams and  was  helpful  in  its  councils,  throwing 
much  of  his  energy  into  the  larger  questions  of 
municipal  reform. 


[941 


CHAPTEE  VII 
IDEALS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

There  is  a  providence  in  the  life  of  men  as  well 
as  in  the  life  of  nations.  Frederick  Robertson 
was  turned  aside  from  the  army  to  become  one 
of  the  greatest  of  English  preachers  by  the  simple 
incident  of  the  barking  of  a  dog,  and  Sir  Walter 
Scott  was  saved  to  the  world,  to  be  one  of  its 
greatest  novelists,  by  a  few  humiliating  failures  at 
the  bar. 

There  were  two  incidents  in  the  life  of  Mr. 
Capen  which  saved  him  from  lines  he  would  have 
marked  out  for  himself  and  resulted  in  his  becom- 
ing one  of  America's  most  useful  laymen.  When 
he  was  a  young  man  he  looked  toward  the  minis- 
try, but  sickness  made  this  impossible,  turning  him 
toward  a  larger  ministry  where  he  was  to  have  the 
world  for  his  parish.  The  other  incident  was  more 
subtle,  belonging  to  those  mysterious  providences 
which  can  only  be  explained  by  belief  in  an  over- 
ruling hand.  He  had  an  ambition  to  become  one 
of  the  great  authorities  in  the  world  of  finance, 
to  accumulate  a  fortune,  not  for  the  sake  of  the 
money,  but  that  he  might  use  it  in  the  bringing 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth.  There  were 
several  times  when  it  seemed  that  this  dream  of 
his  life  was  to  be  realized.  One  was  when  he 
resigned  from  the  Boston  School  Committee  to 
become  Vice-president  of  the  Howard  Bank.  This 

[95] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

seemed  to  be  an  opening  for  which  he  had  waited 
but,  like  other  opportunities,  it  proved  a  bitter 
disappointment.  It  was  not  God's  will  that  he 
should  become  a  financier.  A  larger  opportunity 
was  awaiting  him — that  of  becoming  one  of  the 
leading  laymen  of  America,  of  influencing  the 
spiritual  life  and  contributing  to  the  uplift  of 
the  social  life  of  the  nation. 

It  was  inevitable  that  a  man  of  such  intense, 
wise  and  practical  patriotism  should  become  an 
influence  extending  far  beyond  his  city,  battling 
with  the  perils  which  threatened  his  nation  and 
strengthening  those  positive  forces  which  were 
to  make  a  better  people.  Wherever  there  was  a 
public  danger,  he  was  sure  to  be  one  of  the  first 
to  enter  the  conflict  against  it,  and  wherever  there 
was  an  oppressed  people,  he  was  one  of  the  first 
to  use  his  voice  in  protest.  He  gave  much  of  his 
energy  especially  to  fighting  four  of  our  greatest 
national  evils. 

Someone  went  to  Dr.  Parkhurst,  after  his  cam- 
paign of  reform  in  New  York  City,  and  congratu- 
lated him  on  what  he  had  done.  He  replied, ' '  We 
have  not  done  a  thing  and  we  never  shall  do  any- 
thing until  we  have  gotten  rid  of  these  saloons. ' ' 
Perhaps  this  is  putting  the  matter  too  strongly, 
but  Mr.  Capen  had  a  deep  feeling  that  we  can 
never  reform  any  city  so  long  as  we  have  open 
saloons,  thronged  with  loafers  of  the  worst  kind, 
who  want  things  that  are  bad.  He  was  confident 
that  it  was  the  power  of  the  liquor  interests  that 
was  largely  responsible  for  blocking  reform  the 
world  over,  that  it  was  in  their  places  that  mis- 

[96] 


IDEALS   OF    CITIZENSHIP 

chief  was  concocted,  and  he  believed  that  if  we 
could  get  rid  of  the  saloons  in  our  cities  it  would 
make  municipal  reform  an  easy  matter. 

He  gave  his  aid,  therefore,  to  every  movement 
which  blocked  the  progress  of  this  national  evil. 
He  threw  himself  with  tremendous  enthusiasm 
into  the  fight  during  the  year  of  1895  for  the  Nor- 
wegian Bill,  a  bill  which  was  intended  primarily 
to  abolish  the  common  saloon,  to  authorize  the  sale 
of  liquor  by  an  association  of  persons  who  had 
no  inducement  to  increase  their  business,  to  con- 
fine the  sale  of  liquor  within  decent  hours,  and  to 
devote  its  profits  to  public  advantage.  The  prim- 
ary object  of  the  bill  was  to  take  away  from  the 
liquor  dealer  all  financial  profit,  thus,  at  one  blow, 
destroying  the  chief  motive  which  keeps  him  in 
business.  It  was  supported  heartily  by  many  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  including 
people  like  Senator  Hoar,  Alice  Freeman  Palmer, 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  Curtis  Guild,  Mary  A.  Liver- 
more,  Dr.  Alexander  McKenzie  and  Dean  Hodges. 

Mr.  Capen  was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  bill, 
first,  because  it  appealed  to  his  sense  of  justice 
and  fair  play.  Boston  was  surrounded,  like  every 
other  great  city,  with  towns  which  persistently 
voted  out  the  saloon,  turning  the  worst  elements 
of  their  communities  into  the  city  for  their  liquor. 
As  a  result,  all  the  late  trains  were  crowded  with 
those  who  had  spent  the  evening  in  debauchery, 
and  travel  was  uncomfortable  for  decent  people. 
Mr.  Capen  saw  that  this  plan  of  the  Norwegian 
Bill  would  remove  the  saloons  from  the  suburbs, 
would  reduce  the  number  in  the  city  from  nine 

[97] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  would  thus 
relieve  thousands  of  citizens  of  the  inconvenience 
and  the  unpleasantness  involved  in  the  existing 
license  arrangements.     He  supported  it  because 
it  appealed  to  his  reason.    It  would  abolish  the 
gilded  saloon,  taking  away  everything  attractive 
about  it,  and  thus  depriving  it  of  its  attractive- 
ness as  a  social  center  for  young  men.     But  his 
chief  reason  for  supporting  it  was  that  it  was  a 
step  toward  ultimate  prohibition.     The  illustra- 
tion which  he  used  in  one  of  his  addresses  is  worth 
remembering :    '  *  Here  is  a  tremendous  conflagra- 
tion ;  it  has  been  going  on  for  years ;  we  have  been 
fighting  it  with  water  and  it  does  not  go  out.    It 
goes  out  in  one  place  and  breaks  out  in  another; 
and  bye  and  bye  somebody  goes  to  the  rear  and 
finds  out  the  cause.    There  are  men  behind  pour- 
ing on  oil.     They  come  back  and  say,  'We  shall 
never  put  this  fire  out  until  we  stop  these  men 
putting  on  oil.*    Somebody  says,  'Oil  smells  bad; 
oil  is  dirty  stuff;  and  if  you  touch  it  you  won't 
be  clean  when  you  get  through. '    These  men  say, 
'We  don't  care  if  it  does  smell  bad.  We  are  willing 
to  go  in  there  and  stop  that  pouring  of  oil  on  the 
fire.'    Now  it  seems  to  me,  here  is  the  thing  in  a 
nutshell.     We  have  been  trying  by  temperance 
text  books,  and  moral  suasion,  and  every  sort  of 
thing,  and  it  does  not  put  out  the  fire  because 
there  are  so  many  in  the  rear  who  are  making 
tremendous  profits;  and  you  can  never  stop  it  so 
long  as  this  goes  on.    When  you  stop  the  private 
profits,  when  you  get  the  motive  out  of  the  way, 
when  you  stop  the  oil,  you  can  put  the  fire  out. ' ' 

[98] 


IDEALS   OF    CITIZENSHIP 

Mr.  Capen  was  equally  sensitive  to  tne  injustice 
done  to  the  Indians  by  corrupt  politicians.  Indeed, 
the  blood  of  every  American  ought  to  tingle  at 
the  thought  of  the  foul  stain  upon  our  national 
honor  because  of  the  treatment  the  Indian  has  re- 
ceived. General  Sherman  declared  that  we  have 
made  more  than  one  thousand  treaties  with  the 
Indian  but  the  United  States  government  has 
never  kept  one  of  them,  if  there  was  anything  to 
be  made  by  breaking  it;  while  the  Indian  has 
never  broken  one  unless  he  first  had  an  excuse  in 
some  cruel  wrong  from  the  white  man.  Our  treat- 
ment of  him  has  been  such  that  our  boasted  Amer- 
ican Eepublic  is  to  him  only  synonymous  with  a 
nation  of  liars. 

Mr.  Capen  gave  expression  to  these  wrongs  in 
one  of  his  public  addresses  before  the  Indian  As- 
sociation: "While  our  ears  have  ever  been  open 
to  the  cry  of  distress  the  world  over,  the  silent 
Indian  moan  has  passed,  too  often,  unheard.  We 
have  made  him  a  prisoner  upon  the  reservation, 
and  when  we  have  wanted  his  land  we  have  taken 
it  and  put  him  on  some  which,  just  at  that  time, 
we  did  not  happen  to  want.  His  appeal,  when  in 
suffering  and  distress,  has  been  stifled  by  those 
who  can  make  the  most  money  out  of  him,  and  if, 
hungry  and  in  despair,  he  leaves  the  reservation, 
we  shoot  him.  We  have  put  him  in  control  of  an 
agent  whose  authority  is  as  absolute  as  the  Czar's. 
And  I  beg  of  you  to  notice  that  the  wrongs  are 
not  all  in  the  past ;  they  are  of  the  present.  Those 
who  say  otherwise  have  either  not  examined  the 
facts  or  else  they  are  deceived.  While  there  has 

[99] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

been  much  progress  made  since  General  Grant's 
administration,  the  machinery  of  our  Indian  af- 
fairs in  the  last  analysis  seems  yet  to  be  largely 
a  scheme  to  plunder  the  Indian.  Its  mechanism 
is  so  complicated  that  there  are  comparatively 
few  who  understand  the  wrongs  and  these  seem 
almost  powerless  to  right  them." 

The  Indian  has  suffered  even  at  the  hands  of 
those  who  have  been  paid  by  the  government  to 
care  for  him.  An  Indian  in  Nebraska,  on  one  of 
our  reservations,  slightly  injured  his  knee.  There 
was  a  physician  paid  a  large  salary  by  the  govern- 
ment, but  when  asked  to  visit  this  man  he  refused 
to  go.  The  Indian  grew  worse  until  the  leg  de- 
cayed. The  cries  of  the  sufferer  could  be  heard 
far  and  near,  yet  the  physician  heeded  not,  until 
finally  a  friend  in  mercy  took  a  hatchet  and 
chopped  off  the  limb.  The  Indian  died  in  his 
agony,  the  physician  never  once  having  visited 
him.  This  may  be  an  extreme  illustration,  but  it 
is  only  one  of  the  hundreds  which  might  be  cited 
to  show  the  neglect  these  people  have  suffered. 

They  have  been  robbed  through  the  politicians. 
In  North  Dakota  one  of  the  tribes  asked  that  they 
might  have  some  barns.  The  request  was 
granted;  the  lumber,  valued  at  three  thousand 
dollars,  was  bought  in  Minneapolis  and  the  freight 
charges,  which  ought  to  have  been  about  fifteen 
hundred  dollars,  were  twenty-three  thousand.  A 
little  clerk  in  Washington  who  belonged  to  the 
"ring"  added  an  extra  cipher  to  care  for  the 
pockets  of  the  politicians. 

The  Indian 's  land  has  been  taken  from  him.    To 

[100] 


IDEALS   OF   CITIZENSHIP 

show  exactly  what  this  means,  let  us  notice  an  in- 
cident that  occurred  in  Southern  California.  A 
lot  of  land-grabbers  took  from  the  Indians  their 
property.  When  private  individuals  ascertained 
the  facts,  complaint  was  made,  and  an  order  was 
issued  from  the  government  for  the  removal  of  the 
exploiters,  but  in  spite  of  this  mandate  they  re- 
mained where  they  were,  in  defiance  of  law,  and 
the  Indians  were  left  in  poverty. 

In  view  of  all  these  abuses  Mr.  Capen  said  of 
the  department  constituted  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  Indian:  "The  Indian  Bureau,  as  at  present 
constituted,  cannot  do  for  the  Indian  what  he 
needs.  It  is  part  of  the  political  machine,  and  its 
appointees  are  selected  because  they  have  done 
good  service  as  ward  politicians.  It  is  no  more 
fitted  to  lead  the  Indians  aright  than  Pharaoh  was 
to  lead  the  Israelites  out  of  their  house  of 
bondage. ' ' 

To  correct  this  abuse,  he  was  active  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  Indian  Association  and  in  advocat- 
ing reform  measures  for  better  conditions.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Boston  Indian  Citizenship 
Committee,  which  included  such  men  as  the  Hon. 
John  D.  Long  and  other  of  Boston's  leading  citi- 
zens. This  Committee  not  only  criticized  the 
policy  of  the  government,  but  offered  a  positive 
program  which  did  much  to  lift  the  burden  from 
the  Red  Man's  shoulders  and  brought  a  new  and 
better  day  for  these  people  who  had  been  the  vic- 
tims of  the  politicians. 

In  the  great  crisis  of  1896,  when  Mr.  Bryan  was 
trying  to  carry  the  country  for  free  silver  and  was 

[101] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

striking  at  the  very  foundation  of  many  of  those 
institutions  which  had  been  considered  the 
strength  of  our  nation,  Mr.  Capen  entered  the 
campaign  with  characteristic  earnestness  and 
made  some  of  his  best  adresses.  He  truly  felt 
that:  "Not  since  the  foundation  of  the  Republic 
has  there  been  an  election  of  such  infinite  im- 
portance as  the  one  which  is  soon  to  be  decided. 
Not  even  that  of  1860,  which  involved  the  slavery 
issue,  went  deeper  to  the  very  foundation  of  our 
national  existence.  It  is  a  serious  hour,  and  every 
patriotic  citizen  should  be  ready  to  contribute 
whatever  he  may  possess  for  the  public  good.  It 
is  not  a  time  for  harsh  or  bitter  words,  and  it  is 
certainly  not  a  time  to  raise  a  sectional  cry,  for 
the  questions  are  not  and  cannot  be  sectional.  The 
nation  is  one  and  our  interests  are  common  in- 
terests. That  man  is  a  public  enemy  who  attempts 
to  array  class  against  class,  the  farmer  and  the 
laborer  against  the  'gold  bugs'  or  Wall  Street. " 
Mr.  Capen  was  elected  as  Vice-president  of  the 
Business  Men's  Non-Partisan  Sound  Money 
League  of  Boston  and  his  utterances  found  wide 
circulation.  He  spoke  in  September  before  the 
Boston  Ministers'  Meeting.  The  address  was 
presented  verbatim  in  the  * '  Congregationalist, " 
and  later  was  issued  as  a  campaign  document  by 
the  Sound  Money  League.  In  no  other  address  can 
one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  man  be  more 
clearly  seen  than  in  this.  He  was  dealing  prima- 
rily with  the  question  of  finance,  yet  it  was  a  ques- 
tion which  involved,  as  he  believed,  the  very 
destiny  of  the  nation.  Hence  he  could  not  discuss 

[102] 


IDEALS   OF    CITIZENSHIP 

the  issue  as  a  question  of  economics  alone.  His 
patriotism  rose,  like  that  of  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
to  a  spirit  of  religion  and  involved  the  very  issues 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  felt  that  his  nation 
was  on  trial  before  the  earth,  one  choice  leading 
to  national  honor  and  prosperity,  the  other  to  re- 
pudiation and  national  disgrace,  and  with  the  pas- 
sion of  an  evangelist  he  pleaded  with  men  to  turn 
to  God  to  lead  them  in  their  decision. 

While  Mr.  Capen  was  a  leader  in  that  new  civic 
movement,  which  proposed  to  establish  the  King- 
dom of  God  on  the  earth  and  was  a  brilliant  per- 
sonal example  of  the  attempt  to  apply  Christian- 
ity to  the  problems  of  city  and  nation,  yet  he  was 
equally  firm  in  his  conviction  that  the  Church  as 
an  institution  should  take  no  part  in  active  poli- 
tics. Wherever  she  had  tried  this  experiment,  she 
had  not  only  cheapened  herself,  but  had  weakened 
her  power  in  regenerating  the  world.  *  *  A  church 
'ring'  would  become  as  obnoxious  as  any  other 
'ring.'  It  is  fundamentally  regeneration  and  not 
reformation  that  is  needed,  and  it  is  to  this  great 
work  that  the  Church,  with  singleness  of  purpose, 
should  devote  herself. ' ' 

He  believed  that  if  the  Church  should  enter 
politics,  she  would  not  only  fail  in  her  great  work, 
but  would  also  bring  upon  herself  endless  divi- 
sions. "If  with  an  open  Bible,"  he  said,  "the 
world  is  divided  into  many  sects,  what  further 
divisions  and  sub-divisions  and  semi-sub-divisions 
will  there  be  where  there  is  no  revelation  and 
where  men  honestly  differ.  Is  it  not  clear  to  all 
that  the  inevitable  result  would  be  confusion,  to 

[103] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  shame  and  reproach  of  Him  whose  mission 
was  peace,  and  whose  last  prayer  was  that  they 
might  be  one?"  Yet  believing  that  the  Church 
should  not  enter  politics,  he  also  believed  firmly 
that  Christian  men  should  organize  themselves, 
irrespective  of  church  divisions,  into  civic  clubs, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  advocating  the 
formation  of  these  clubs,  especially  among  young 
people. 

Writing  in  the  ' '  Christian  Endeavor  World ' '  he 
said,  '  *  Christian  Endeavorers  are  sacredly  bound 
to  be  intelligent  upon  these  questions  which  have 
to  do  with  the  well  being  of  the  cities  where  they 
reside.  To  secure  such  knowledge  will  require 
study  and  effort.  There  is  more  ignorance  to  the 
square  inch  at  this  point  than  at  almost  any 
other.  Comparatively  few  ever  read  the  charter 
of  their  city,  or  the  reports  of  the  school  commit- 
tee, or  know  definitely  very  much  about  the  prac- 
tical workings  of  their  own  government.  Instead 
of  this  our  young  men  have  been  reading  David 
Harum  and  Eben  H olden.  An  exception  should 
be  made  in  one  class  in  many  of  our  cities,  the 
Irish  Americans.  A  recent  conversation  with  one 
of  the  trustees  of  one  of  our  city  libraries  brought 
out  the  fact  that  for  many  years  he  had  been 
watching  young  men's  reading.  The  Irish  Ameri- 
cans read  history,  biography  and  constitutional 
law;  the  young  men  of  American  ancestry  read 
novels.  The  time  has  certainly  come  to  urge 
Christian  Endeavorers  to  see  a  religious  applica- 
tion, as  well  as  a  glorious  opportunity,  in  the  study 
of  social  and  municipal  questions. ' ' 

[104] 


IDEALS   OF   CITIZENSHIP 

He  advocated  that  these  clubs  be  organized 
after  the  pattern  of  our  national  and  state  legisla- 
tive bodies,  with  speakers  and  other  officers  and 
various  committees,  each  with  some  definite  pur- 
pose; that  they  should  study  rules  of  order  and 
Parliamentary  practices  and  methods  so  that  the 
members  would  be  fully  capable,  when  older,  of 
presiding  over  public  assemblies.  These  clubs 
should  discuss  questions  concerning  the  best  or- 
ganization of  city  government;  they  should  study 
the  principles  of  proportional  representation,  the 
care  of  criminals  and  paupers,  arbitration  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  tenement-house  laws, 
public  baths,  parks,  schools  and  many  other 
questions. 

He  saw  that  a  number  of  such  clubs,  with  dis- 
cussions and  courses  of  study,  would  soon  make 
a  generation  of  intelligent  young  men  fit  for  splen- 
did service.  Furthermore,  they  would  help  to 
make  the  Christian  life  attractive,  not  only  to 
"goody-goody"  young  men  but  also  to  those 
who  are  strongest.  They  would  keep  before 
them  the  glory  of  service  and  the  splendid  pos- 
sibilities of  noble  Christian  citizenship;  they 
would  guarantee  the  vote  of  the  city  to  the  side 
of  righteousness  and  would  insure  the  safety  of 
the  republic. 

Mr.  Capen,  wTho  was  not  only  an  idealist  but  a 
practical  politician,  saw  clearly  that  many  of  our 
national  perils  grow  out  of  the  neglect  of  citizens 
in  attending  the  caucus.  It  is  here  that  our  battles 
are  fought  and  lost  or  won.  Notwithstanding  this, 
it  is  neglected  by  the  vast  majority  of  men.  He 

[105] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

saw  that  the  thing  we  have  to  fear  is  not  ignorance 
alone,  but  also  this  criminal  indifference,  upon 
which  the  politician  can  always  count  in  his  plans 
and  trades. 

"Our  difficulty,"  said  Mr.  Capen,  "is  not  with 
the  great  number  of  selfish  voters,  but  with  the 
far  greater  number  of  indifferent  good  men.  Such 
good  men,  whenever  they  come  out  to  vote,  bury 
the  politician  under  an  avalanche,  and  for  the 
simple  reason  that  there  are  far  more  good  men 
than  bad.  The  forces  of  evil  can  be  conquered  at 
any  election  in  any  city  when  the  forces  of  good- 
will practically  unite  by  voting  at  the  caucus.  It 
is  important  that  we  should  keep  ever  before  our 
people  that  popular  government  in  our  cities  is 
still  in  the  experimental  stage,  and  that  unless  in 
some  way  we  can  arouse  the  whole  community  to 
be  interested  at  the  caucus  as  the  initial  point, 
failure  will  not  be  far  away.  The  question  is 
one  of  self-preservation.  The  first  duty  of  every 
citizen  is  to  be  interested  in  politics  and  he  should 
no  more  desire  to  escape  it  than  to  escape  paying 
the  fair  proportion  of  taxes  to  the  State.  To 
shirk  either  duty  is  to  steal  from  the  Government 
that  which  is  its  due.  We  want  a  patriotism 
which  does  not  exhaust  itself  in  singing  about  the 
stars  and  stripes,  but  which  is  willing  to  go  into 
the  thick  of  the  fight  at  every  primary  meeting. 
If  we  complain  that  the  politicians  control  these, 
it  is  nobody's  fault  but  our  own,  for  the  politi- 
cians are  in  a  helpless  minority  against  the  great 
population.  We  say  things  are  all  cut  and  dried 
by  the  selfish  schemer,  before  the  caucus.  What 

[106] 


IDEALS   OF    CITIZENSHIP 

is  to  hinder  the  other  class  from  doing  some  cut- 
ting and  drying  in  advance?  There  is  no  mo- 
nopoly of  this  work  in  any  community  reserved  to 
any  class.  Put  in  some  work  yourself  and  see 
how  fruitful  for  good  it  will  be.  We  say, '  politics 
are  dirty.'  Then  take  hold  and  clean  them!  But 
some  will  say,  'I  am  in  sympathy  with  neither 
party  and  cannot  go  to  either  caucus. '  Then  you 
are  in  honor  bound  to  get  together  with  other  men 
and  make  a  new  one  of  some  sort.  As  an  Ameri- 
can citizen  you  have  no  right  to  be  silent  and  dumb 
in  the  initiative.  You  are  practically  useless 
unless  you  try  to  improve  the  old  parties  or 
start  an  independent  movement.  Simply  com- 
plaining of  others  cannot  satisfy  the  duties  of 
citizenship. ' ' 

It  is  not  enough  for  the  citizen  simply  to  nomi- 
nate; that  step  will  count  practically  for  nothing 
unless  he  sees  to  it  that  his  nominations  are  en- 
dorsed at  the  polls.  Yet  the  study  of  the  statistics 
concerning  the  voters  of  any  city  will  reveal  the 
fact  that  there  are  vast  numbers  who  never  take 
the  trouble  to  register  a  choice.  It  was  seldom 
that  Mr.  Capen  ever  made  a  political  address  when 
he  did  not  take  occasion  to  say  that  this  neglect 
is  little  short  of  crime;  that  the  man  who  is  so 
full  of  his  pleasures  or  so  interested  to  get  to  his 
place  of  business  in  the  morning,  that  he  cannot 
turn  aside  a  few  rods  and  cast  his  vote  for  right- 
eous government  is  only  one  stage  removed  from  a 
criminal.  "For  an  American  citizen  to  neglect  a 
vote,  is  to  be  false  to  the  flag  that  covers  him  and 
to  the  state  and  city  that  protects  his  property 

' 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

and  his  home.  The  sacrament  of  our  political  life 
is  the  casting  of  our  ballot." 

While  he  had  such  confidence  in  the  people  and 
believed  in  the  power  of  public  opinion  for  purify- 
ing the  nation,  he  stood  against  many  of  the 
modern  political  movements  which  are  supposed 
to  be  in  the  direction  of  greater  democracy.  He 
opposed  especially  the  referendum.  This  prob- 
ably grew  out  of  his  practical  experience  in  the 
realm  of  politics.  One  of  the  best  bills  ever 
brought  before  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts was  presented  when  Mr.  Capen  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Municipal  League.  That  bill  had  a 
most  remarkable  list  of  names  in  its  favor.  It  had 
the  approval  of  the  leading  banking  firms  of  Bos- 
ton, the  great  mercantile  nouses  and  the  members 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
The  committee  on  municipal  affairs  was  most  sym- 
pathetic toward  the  bill,  while  men  of  both  politi- 
cal parties  seemed  to  be  almost  equally  interested. 
The  leading  citizens  of  Boston  appeared  in  its 
favor  and  it  had  almost  no  opposition.  Yet  in  an 
evil  hour  the  referendum  was  added  to  it  and,  as  a 
result,  in  spite  of  all  the  power  it  had  behind  it, 
the  bill  went  down  in  defeat. 

Mr.  Capen  resented  the  statement  that  he  was 
afraid  to  trust  the  people.  He  said,  "I  am  not 
afraid  to  trust  them  if  they  could  be  separated 
from  the  influence  of  selfish  men  and  if  the  facts 
could  be  brought  before  them.  If  all  the  voters 
could  be  brought  together  on  Boston  Common,  or 
in  smaller  groups,  where  someone  could  explain 
the  various  features  of  the  bill  and  give  the  peo- 

[108] 


IDEALS   OF   CITIZENSHIP 

pie  a  chance  to  ask  questions,  so  that  they  might 
thoroughly  understand  it,  the  result  would  be 
fairly  safe.  I  have  always  believed  that  there  are 
more  good  men  in  the  city  than  bad;  that  there 
are  more  in  the  city  who  want  good  government 
than  bad.  The  poor  man  suffers  more  from  waste 
and  extravagance  than  the  rich.  But  every  one 
must  know  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  these 
problems  and  questions  before  the  voters  as  a 
whole.  Too  many  feel  that  the  more  money  spent, 
the  more  chances  for  work,  for  the  property 
owners  pay  the  taxes.  They  do  not  see  that  waste 
directly  or  indirectly  adds  to  their  own  rent  and 
all  other  expenses.  Too  many  are  apt  to  be  con- 
trolled by  some  district  or  ward  leader  and  they 
vote  as  they  are  told  to  vote.  You  do  not  get  an 
individual  expression  of  opinion  by  the  referen- 
dum; what  you  do  get,  too  often,  is  the  opinion 
of  men  who  have  power  to  control  others." 

His  personal  example  in  citizenship  was  prob- 
ably even  a  greater  inspiration  to  young  men  than 
his  words  or  writings.  To  him  the  caucus  and 
the  ballot  box  were  as  sacred  as  the  prayer-meet- 
ing, and  nothing  short  of  severe  sickness  could 
keep  him  from  either.  Into  every  city  campaign 
for  the  election  of  a  mayor,  as  well  as  into  the 
state  and  national  elections,  he  threw  himself  with 
all  the  power  of  his  personality,  always  showing 
intense  but  controlled  feeling  over  the  issues. 
There  was  no  cause,  however  slight,  which  looked 
for  the  betterment  of  his  community,  in  which  his 
influence  was  not  felt.  With  all  the  duties  of  his 
busy  life  he  was  never  too  busy  to  attend  a  com- 

[109] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

mittee  meeting  or  to  speak  a  word  at  gatherings 
in  the  interest  of  civic  improvement.  He  kept 
Memorial  Day  as  sacred,  always  marched  with  the 
old  veterans  and  never  refused  to  speak  a  word 
of  praise  or  encouragement  when  they  sought  his 
aid.  He  kept  in  touch  with  the  Republican  Com- 
mittee of  his  ward,  exerted  personal  influence  in 
the  choice  of  the  candidates,  was  for  years  se- 
lected as  a  delegate  from  his  district  to  the  State 
Convention  of  the  Republican  Party  and  entered 
into  many  of  the  city,  state  and  national  cam- 
paigns. Usually,  for  weeks  before  election  he 
would  discuss  with  his  Bible  Class  the  issues  in- 
volved and  urge  the  members  to  active  participa- 
tion. As  a  result  of  this  personal  example 
hundreds  of  young  men  received  inspiration  and 
entered  into  the  movement  for  cleaner  politics. 


[110] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WORK  FOR  INTERNATIONAL 
ARBITRATION 

We  have  seen  how,  with  his  profound  convic- 
tion that  the  gates  of  hell  could  not  ultimately 
prevail  against  the  Kingdom  of  God,  Mr.  Capen 
threw  himself  into  every  reform  touching  the 
city  and  nation  and  into  every  good  work  of  the 
Christian  Church,  believing  that  the  right  would 
ultimately  triumph  and  the  earth  would  become 
the  Lord's.  Even  the  dense  ignorance  and  super- 
stition of  Africa  and  the  tenacity  of  the  religions 
of  the  Orient  could  not  overcome  his  persistent 
optimism  concerning  the  victory  of  his  Christ  over 
the  whole  earth. 

It  was  natural  that  this  man,  whose  fundamen- 
tal conviction  was  that  Christianity  contains  a 
workable  program  for  the  practical  affairs  of  life 
and  who  threw  himself  into  the  crusade  of  tak- 
ing the  world  for  his  Master,  should  also  carry 
his  religion  into  the  politics  of  the  world  and 
enter  the  campaign  in  behalf  of  international 
arbitration. 

He  became  a  part  of  the  Mohonk  Conference, 
one  of  the  pioneer  movements  in  behalf  of  world 
peace,  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  dreamed  of 
no  other  way  of  settling  their  disputes  than  by 
armies  and  navies.  For  untold  centuries  all 
tribal  and  national  troubles  had  been  settled  on 

[111] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  battlefield.  Outside  of  a  few  poets  and  other 
men  who  were  considered  dreamers,  the  majority 
of  people  could  think  of  no  judge  except  death, 
no  conclusion  except  that  which  was  written  in 
human  blood.  The  mere  mention  of  arbitration 
in  Congress  brought  forth  sneers;  statesmen; 
were  on  the  side  of  war  and  nations  were  ready 
to  fly  to  arms  to  settle  any  disagreement. 

It  was  a  little  company  of  people,  mostly  pro- 
fessional men,  who  met  at  Mohonk  at  the  invita- 
tion of  that  grand  and  good  Quaker,  Mr.  Albert 
K.  Smiley,  to  create  public  sentiment  against  war. 
A  few  business  men  were  included,  among  whom, 
as  we  have  indicated,  was  Mr.  Capen.  He  imme- 
diately threw  his  energies  into  that  work  and  his 
optimism  became  contagious.  Though  their  com- 
pany was  small  they  could  not  become  dis- 
couraged. With  such  consecration  and  faith  in 
their  ranks,  they  were  destined  to  become  a  world 
power,  leading  the  thoughts  of  nations. 

These  evangelists  of  peace  were  not  blind  to  the 
terrific  forces  against  which  they  were  compelled 
to  fight.  There  were  war  leagues  in  every  nation, 
and  these  leagues,  directly  or  indirectly,  were  the 
greatest  enemies  to  progress.  They  grew  more 
bitter  as  they  saw  the  rapid  advance  of  the  peace 
movement.  There  were  navy  leagues  in  this  coun- 
try and  in  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  France, 
which  were  skillful  in  playing  one  nation  against 
another.  Pictures  of  every  warship  built  by  a 
nation  were  published  in  the  newspapers  and 
magazines  of  others,  primarily  to  encourage  the 
building  of  more  and  larger  battleships.  In  one 

[112] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

national  assembly  the  increase  of  the  navy  of  one 
nation  was  given  as  a  reason  why  other  nations 
should  increase  their  navies.  When  we  built  more 
warships,  they  built  more  warships.  Newspapers 
gloated  over  the  weaknesses  of  rivals  and  wrote 
insulting  articles  to  arouse  the  passions  and  keep 
alive  the  war  spirit.  Whenever  there  was  a  bill 
before  Congress  for  the  building  of  more  dread- 
noughts, the  navy  leagues  did  not  fail  to  bring 
before  the  country  the  cry  of  war  with  Japan. 
They  played  skillfully  upon  the  passions  and  prej- 
udices of  men  to  increase  the  fighting  machinery 
of  the  world. 

Another  foe  to  peace  was  the  yellow  press.  The 
German  chancellor  said  some  time  ago  in  the 
Eeichstag  that  "Wars  are  not  planned  and 
brought  about  in  these  days  by  governments,  but 
noisy  and  fanatical  minorities  drive  nations  to 
war."  It  was  the  yellow  press  that  drove  the 
United  States  into  the  war  with  Spain  in  1898. 
Mr.  Root  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State  de- 
clared : ' '  There  are  no  international  controversies 
so  serious  that  they  cannot  be  settled  peaceably  if 
both  parties  really  desire  settlement;  while  there 
are  few  causes  of  dispute  so  trifling  that  they 
cannot  be  made  the  occasion  of  war  if  either  party 
really  desires  war.  The  matters  in  dispute  be- 
tween nations  are  nothing ;  the  spirit  which  deals 
with  them  is  everything. ' '  Thus  the  jingoism  of 
the  press,  with  its  power  to  create  a  war  atmos- 
phere, was  one  of  the  obstacles  which  made  it 
difficult  to  settle  international  controversies  by 
arbitration. 

[113] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

No  one  can  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  there  is  an 
organized  effort  to  make  our  country  a  great  mili- 
tary nation.  Nowhere  is  this  more  clear  than  in 
the  new  life  that  has  come  to  Washington,  our 
capital  city,  in  the  last  few  years.  Brass  buttons 
and  epaulets  are  constantly  becoming  more  con- 
spicuous. In  1908,  there  were  seven  hundred  and 
twenty- seven  military  and  naval  officers  on  the 
active  and  retired  lists.  Most  of  these  had  their 
families  with  them  and  in  addition  there  were  a 
number  of  families  of  deceased  officers.  This 
group  of  people  were  gradually  transforming  the 
capital  of  the  country  into  a  military  and  naval 
center  and  was  constantly  exerting  an  influence 
upon  Congress  for  continued  development  and 
increased  expenditures  in  military  and  naval 
lines. 

But  in  spite  of  these  forces  which  strove  to  keep 
the  war  spirit  alive,  and  which  are  today  the 
greatest  enemies  of  peace,  these  consecrated 
workers  in  behalf  of  international  arbitration  pro- 
ceeded to  the  task  with  confidence  in  the  triumph 
of  the  right.  In  the  second  meeting  of  the  Con- 
ference, in  1896,  Mr.  Capen  presented  the  report 
of  the  Business  Committee,  which  was  based  upon 
a  principle  characteristic  of  the  man,  that  was 
clearly  one  source  of  his  usefulness  to  every  great 
reform  movement.  He  said:  "We  are  trying  to 
be  leaders  of  public  thought  and  unless  we  can 
blaze  the  path  ahead,  Mohonk  is  false  to  its  op- 
portunities and  its  traditions.  But  we  do  not 
want  to  take  so  long  a  step  forward  that  the  great 
mass  of  intelligent  people  shall  feel  that  we  are 

[114] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

proposing  that  which  is  impracticable ;  for  in  that 
way  we  shall  lose  our  power  and  our  ability  to  in- 
fluence and  hold  public  thought."  It  was  this 
ability  to  lead  without  offending,  to  stand  for 
idealism  without  incurring  the  stigma  of 
"dreamer,"  which  gave  to  him  the  confidence  of 
the  people  and  enabled  him  to  guide  organizations 
and  movements  to  something  better  where,  per- 
haps, other  men,  equally  earnest,  failed. 

It  was  probably  this  quality,  as  much  as  any 
other,  which  characterized  him  as  a  leader  and 
which  made  him  so  eagerly  sought  in  difficult  situ- 
ations. During  the  Andover  Controversy,  when 
the  trustees  of  that  Seminary  were  divided,  and 
when  the  theological  debate  threatened  to  divide 
the  Congregational  denomination  and  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  he  was  sought  as  a  man  who  could 
bring  peace  and  lead  the  contending  parties  to- 
gether. Earnest  letters  were  written,  urging  him 
to  become  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  but 
he  declined.  If  there  was  any  difficult  situation  in 
his  church,  or  in  the  missionary  societies,  where 
someone  was  needed  who  could  heal  ugly  wounds 
or  lead  differing  elements  to  a  useful  result,  he 
was  usually  the  man  who  was  sought.  This  gift 
for  settling  disputes  and  misunderstandings  made 
him  an  unusually  useful  man,  placed  him  year 
after  year  upon  the  Business  Committee  at  Mo- 
honk,  and  enabled  him  to  contribute  much  to  the 
effectiveness  of  this  peace  movement. 

The  appeal  read  by  Mr.  Capen  before  the  Con- 
ference in  1896,  calling  for  a  permanent  tribunal, 
is  interesting  not  only  as  a  matter  of  history,  but 

[115] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

as  a  clear  and  forceful  statement  of  the  peace 
program  for  which  he  exerted  so  much  of  his  in- 
fluence. "In  the  settlement  of  personal  con- 
troversies civilization  has  substituted  the  appeal 
to  law  for  the  appeal  to  force.  It  is  high  time  for 
a  like  substitution  of  law  for  war  in  the  settle- 
ment of  controversies  between  nations.  Law  estab- 
lishes justice;  war  simply  demonstrates  power. 
Such  a  substitution  of  law  for  war  requires  a  per- 
manent tribunal  to  which  all  nations  may  appeal. 
Its  personnel  may  change  but  its  judicial  life 
should  be  continuous;  its  mere  existence  would 
often  prevent  controversy  and  its  decisions  would 
become  a  recognized  interpretation  of  interna- 
tional law.  It  would  not  impair  the  sovereignty, 
lessen  the  dignity,  nor  hazard  the  honor  or  safety 
of  any  nation.  The  enforcement  of  its  judgments 
might  be  safely  left  to  the  moral  obligations  of 
the  nation  concerned  and  the  moral  sentiments  of 
mankind.  Such  a  tribunal  should  be  so  constituted 
that  all  civilized  nations  may,  if  they  choose,  by 
adhering  to  the  treaty  constituting  it,  avail  them- 
selves of  its  benefits.  Disarmament  of  the  nations 
should  follow  such  recognition  of,  and  provision 
for,  the  reign  of  reason  over  the  passions  of 
mankind. ' ' 

He  believed  the  great  weapon  by  which  men 
were  to  fight  for  this  principle  was  public  opinon. 
The  greatest  enemy  after  all  to  the  peace  move- 
ment was  the  apathy  and  indifference  of  men.  The 
majority  of  citizens  had  no  more  interest  in  this 
subject  than  they  had  over  a  discussion  of  aniline 
dyes.  Mr.  Capen  saw  that  "We  must  help  to  make 

[116] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

public  opinion  in  this  country;  for  public  opinion 
is  master  here." 

Not  only  did  he  seek  to  create  a  public  senti- 
ment among  the  adults  of  the  country  but  he 
devoted  himself  with  zeal  to  interesting  young 
people  in  this  subject.  He  was  appointed  by  the 
Business  Committee  of  the  Mohonk  Conference  to 
interview  Dr.  Clark,  the  President  of  the  United 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and  to  present  to 
him  the  wish  of  that  Conference  that  he  might  be- 
come interested  in  this  movement.  Mr.  Capen  met 
with  a  most  gracious  reception  and  probably  had 
something  to  do  with  the  shaping  of  the  Society 's 
policy.  On  March  15,  1899,  Dr.  Clark  and  those 
associated  with  him  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavorers  of  the  world  asking  them  to 
devote  some  of  their  energies  to  this  great  move- 
ment. He  especially  recommended  to  the  young 
people  of  this  country  to  petition  Congress  in  be- 
half of  peace.  Mr.  Capen  felt  confident  that  this 
was  the  way  in  which  the  Peace  Movement  was 
to  be  made  to  triumph.  It  was  not  by  letting  a  few 
people  in  Boston  and  a  few  more  in  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore  do  the  work.  Each  man  was  to  be 
a  center  for  radiating  influence  and  power  in  his 
own  circle  until  the  cause  should  triumph. 

There  were  certain  aspects  of  the  question  to 
which  he  devoted  himself  in  public  address  and  in 
newspaper  articles  with  great  enthusiasm.  First, 
he  attacked  the  evil  from  the  side  of  economic 
waste.  "It  is  a  sad  fact,"  he  said,  in  his  Portland 
address,  "that  sixty-seven  per  cent  of  the  ex- 
penses of  our  Government  are  being  expended 

[117] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

either  because  of  past  wars  or  in  preparation  for 
possible  future  wars.  It  has  been  well  illustrated 
by  a  man  having  an  income  of  one  thousand 
dollars  a  year  who  is  spending  six  hundred  and 
seventy  to  pay  for  the  expenses  of  former  fights, 
or  in  preparation  for  new  ones,  and  is  leaving 
himself  only  three  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  for 
house-rent,  food,  clothing,  fuel  and  the  education 
of  his  children.  Last  year  the  figures  showed 
that  the  United  States  spent  on  preparations  for 
future  war  a  per  capita  of  three  dollars  and  thirty 
cents.  Of  this  total  sum,  we  Congregationalists 
have  had  to  pay  over  $2,250,000  or  three  times  as 
much  as  we  have  given  for  foreign  missions.  The 
condition  across  the  sea  is  even  worse  than  it  is 
with  us.  The  annual  German  expenditure  is 
$731,000,000,  and  of  this,  $318,000,000  is  spent  for 
war  expenses  in  one  way  or  another.  It  is  said 
that  every  farmer  in  Germany  is  burdened  with 
the  equivalent  of  the  maintenance  of  six  non-pro- 
ducing men  in  arms.  Four  million  men  are  under 
arms  in  Europe  at  an  annual  expense  of  $1,682,- 
000,000,  thus  absorbing  the  life  of  these  nations. 
If  these  conditions  can  be  changed,  and  the  fear 
of  war  removed  by  arbitration  agreements,  not 
only  will  the  bulk  of  these  immense  sums  be  saved, 
but  these  men  themselves  could  be  returned  to  the 
ranks  of  peaceful  citizens  and  perhaps  be  able  to 
earn  as  much  besides.  We  need  courts  of  arbitra- 
tion and  of  world  peace  to  save  the  nations  in 
the  social  revolution  that  is  going  on.  The  world 
is  full  of  labor  strikes  and  men  ask  for  larger 
wages  because  of  the  increased  cost  of  living. 

[118] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

With  the  total  debts  of  about  $27,000,000,000  and 
an  annual  interest  charge  of  nearly  $1,000,000,000, 
the  nations  of  Europe  are  running  into  universal 
bankruptcy.  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  so 
closely  interwoven  that  a  disaster  to  Europe 
would  be  a  tremendous  blow  to  us,  followed  by  a 
panic  and  disaster  which  would  seriously  impair 
all  missionary  enterprises.  Not  only  that,  but  in 
order  to  keep  up  in  the  race  our  Government  is 
increasing  its  battleships  at  an  enormous  cost. 
The  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  High  Cost 
of  Living  properly  included  militarism,  and  the 
waste  and  the  expense  which  is  the  natural  result, 
as  one  of  the  chief  causes." 

He  was  equally  earnest  in  attacking  the  delusion 
which  is  common  among  us  that  it  is  necessary  to 
have  a  war  every  few  years  in  order  to  create 
heroism;  that  our  young  men  will  lose  their  vi- 
rility unless  there  is  some  contest.  He  believed 
that  men  ought  to  recognize  the  fact  that  it  is  just 
as  great  to  sacrifice  to  save  as  to  destroy;  that 
the  noblest  heroism  is  not  necessarily  exhibited  on 
the  field  of  battle,  but  may  be  shown  in  more  quiet 
ways.  *  *  I  venture  to  say  that  Herbert  Welsh  con- 
tending against  the  iniquities  of  the  'Indian  ring,' 
or  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff  fighting  political  cor- 
ruption, is  just  as  much  a  hero  as  a  man  on  the 
battlefield,  and  that  Theodore  Roosevelt,  when  he 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  Police  Commission  and 
contended  for  righteousness  and  law,  was  doing 
as  much  for  humanity  as  when  he  led  the  rough- 
riders  at  San  Juan.  This  is  where  we  can  all  help 
to  create  public  opinion.  We  can  teach  that  there 

[119] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

are  glorious  deeds  to  be  done  along  the  line  of 
peace  and  that,  if  we  can  secure  national  peace 
through  universal  arbitration  and  a  permanent 
court  of  the  nations,  our  young  men  can  be  turned 
from  thoughts  of  war  to  the  great  questions  that 
are  waiting  to  be  solved. ' ' 

It  was  his  keen  insight  into  what  Christianity 
ought  to  mean  in  the  life  of  nations  that  made 
him  alive  to  the  fact  that  Christianity  had  not 
only  failed  to  touch  the  real  heart  of  nations,  but 
that  the  Christian  nations  of  the  earth,  through 
their  greed  and  selfishness,  had  become  one  of  the 
chief  obstacles  in  Christianizing  the  Orient.  He 
saw  what  England,  a  so-called  Christian  nation, 
had  done  to  China.  In  1840,  China  destroyed  a 
few  chests  of  opium  that  England  had  tried  to 
force  upon  her  and  then  England  compelled  the 
Chinese,  at  the  mouth  of  cannon  and  against 
every  principle  of  justice,  to  admit  opium  into 
all  her  ports,  thus  becoming  the  leading  factor  in 
the  poisoning  of  a  great  people. 

He  saw  what  the  so-called  Christian  Empire  of 
Germany  had  done  to  China.  In  1897,  two  Ger- 
man Catholic  priests  were  killed  in  two  of  the 
Shantung  provinces.  Out  went  the  German  fleet 
and  took  Kiao-Chau  harbor,  a  large  section  of 
country,  the  right  to  develop  all  mines  and  rail- 
ways in  that  province,  and  a  large  indemnity 
besides.  A  little  later,  to  add  to  her  previous  un- 
christian action,  England  stepped  in  and  helped 
herself  to  Wei-Hai-Wei.  He  saw  that  "Christian" 
France  had  treated  ' '  heathen ' '  China  in  the  same 
way.  He  saw  that  after  the  Boxer  uprising  in 

[120] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

1900  not  only  had  hundreds  of  Chinese  women  of 
the  upper  class  committed  suicide  rather  than  live 
after  the  indignities  they  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  Christian  nations,  but  that  these  same 
Christian  nations  had  compelled  an  indemnity  of 
$333,900,000.  This  thing  had  continued  for  years, 
until  China,  with  a  coast  line  that  would  reach 
from  Eastport,  Maine,  to  the  Panama  Canal,  had 
hardly  a  harbor  left,  robbed  of  the  opportunities 
of  commerce  by  the  nations  who  were  sending  her 
missionaries.  He  heard  Turkey,  that  fanatical 
land  of  the  Mohammedan,  offering  to  submit  her 
grievances  with  Christian  Italy  to  any  tribunal 
Italy  would  care  to  name.  Italy  refused  and  stole 
from  Turkey  the  land  of  Tripoli. 

When  Mr.  Capen  made  his  address  on  '  *  Foreign 
Missions  and  World  Peace,"  in  Portland,  he 
quoted  this  significant  paragraph  from  the 
"  Japan  Advertiser"  of  Tokio:  ''The  first  act  of 
the  Persian  tragedy  is  that  the  Persian  people  are 
guilty  of  the  unpardonable  crime  of  possessing  a 
magnificent  country  with  magnificent  resources, 
and  this  crime  constitutes  the  crime  of  crimes 
which  Christian  Europe,  armed  to  the  teeth,  can 
neither  condone  nor  overlook.  From  the  danger 
signals  that  are  already  flashing  forth  it  is  easy 
to  foresee  that  the  victory  of  Russia  and  England 
over  Persia  will  not  only  mean  the  subjugation  of 
a  practically  unarmed  nation  by  two  fully  armed 
powers,  but  the  present  triumph,  if  it  does  come, 
will  surely  contain  an  aftermath,  which  will  have 
to  be  reaped  by  the  victors.  The  world  is  accus- 
tomed to  associate  Russia  with  merciless  and  des- 

[121] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

potic  barbarism.  The  case  will,  however,  be  dif- 
ferent for  England,  one  of  the  two  makers  of  the 
Persian  tragedy.  British  prestige  must  un- 
doubtedly come  out  of  this  transaction  heavily 
besmirched;  and  in  the  background  of  England's 
Empire,  India,  British  justice  must  come  to  be 
looked  upon  askance  and  British  reputation  must 
suffer  as  it  has  never  suffered  yet.  It  is  well  also 
that  missionaries  and  supporters  of  Christian 
missions  to  the  'heathen'  should  know  that  the 
Oriental  mind  now  defines  Christianity  as  battle- 
ships, cannons  and  rifles,  devised  and  constructed 
for  the  plunder  of  the  earth,  and  that  the  bleeding 
figure  on  the  cross  which  missionaries  hold  up  to 
the  view  of  non-Christian  peoples  gets  blurred  out 
of  their  sight,  for  on  their  horizon  looms  largely 
the  figure  of  the  armed  robber  with  cannon  and 
rifles  leveled,  threatening  'your  country  or  your 
life.'  " 

It  is  this  fact,  growing  out  of  the  greedy  spirit  of 
Christian  nations,  that  has  become  the  greatest  ob- 
stacle to  the  progress  of  Christianity  throughout 
the  earth.  Mr.  Capen  saw  that  it  put  the  mission- 
ary upon  the  defensive,  making  it  incumbent  upon 
him  to  explain  why  so-called  Christian  nations 
should  be  guilty  of  such  high-handed  proceedings, 
that  it  identified  Christianity  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Orientals  with  power  and  big  guns  and  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  could  never  come  on  the  earth 
until  the  war  spirit  should  be  killed  and  nations 
should  become  Christian  indeed. 

A  little  while  before  he  started  on  his  journey 
around  the  world,  he  made  an  address  in  which  he 

[122] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

expressed  a  protest  against  several  public  move- 
ments of  today  looking  toward  an  increase  in  the 
spirit  of  militarism.  First  he  opposed  the  tend- 
ency toward  making  state  militia  more  and  more 
a  part  of  the  reserve  forces  for  the  regular  army. 
He  objected  to  this  chiefly  upon  the  ground  that  it 
stirs  up  unduly  the  spirit  of  war  among  hosts  of 
our  citizens  and  plays  mischief  with  public 
thought.  He  believed  that  if  the  United  States  be- 
haved herself  she  would  have  no  fear  about  any 
attack  being  made  upon  her.  The  militia  had 
been  a  state  organization  to  be  used  only  in  the 
case  of  riot  or  disorder  and  he  believed  that,  as 
lovers  of  peace,  we  ought  to  oppose  this  plan  for 
the  centralization  of  the  volunteer  militia  in  our 
various  states. 

He  was  equally  interested  in  securing  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  Panama  Canal  Bill.  The  original 
intent  was  that  the  canal  should  be  a  great  world 
water-way  for  commerce  and  also  should  make  an 
easy  passage  for  our  navy  from  one  coast  to  the 
other,  thus  making  a  smaller  navy  possible  for  de- 
fense. The  passage  of  this  bill,  exempting  our 
coastwise  shipping  from  tolls,  he  believed  to  be  a 
piece  of  bad  faith  which  has  damaged  our  nation 
at  home  and  abroad.  He  thought  it  a  clear  viola- 
tion of  our  treaty  with  England  and  he  main- 
tained that,  if  we  needed  to  subsidize  our  shipping, 
we  ought  to  do  it  directly  and  in  the  open  and  not 
jeopardize  our  national  honor.  Especially  did  he 
protest  against  the  spirit  represented  by  one  of 
our  distinguished  senators,  who  declared  that  he 
would  never  submit  the  question  to  the  Hague  Tri- 

[123] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

bunal.  He  believed  this  spirit  to  be  against  the 
example  of  our  leadership  in  arbitration  and  to 
represent  an  attitude  that  was  purely  selfish — an 
attitude  that  was  truly  unworthy  of  a  great  Chris- 
tian nation. 

He  joined,  also,  in  the  protest  against  fortify- 
ing the  Panama  Canal,  believing  that  it  should  be 
neutralized  like  the  Suez.  The  latter  is  in  the  very 
war  center  of  the  world  and  yet  all  these  years  it 
has  never  been  fortified  and  no  one  has  ever 
touched  it.  ' '  If  there  had  been  fortifications  they 
might  have  been  attacked;  such  fortifications 
would  have  invited  attack.  For  us  now  to  fortify 
the  Panama  Canal  seems  to  me  to  be  contrary  to 
the  whole  spirit  of  the  past." 

He  urged  that  all  good  people  should  stand  to- 
gether and  oppose  the  present  tendency  to  in- 
crease our  navy  to  a  size  far  beyond  the  needs 
for  defense.  When  David  Starr  Jordan  went  to 
Japan  a  few  years  ago  as  representative  of  the 
World's  Peace  Foundation,  he  was  cordially  re- 
ceived by  that  nation,  but  it  was  significant  that 
the  press  of  Japan  criticized  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  lands  he  represented,  emphasizing 
the  fact  that,  while  these  nations  were  constantly 
holding  their  great  peace  congresses  and  sending 
out  peace  workers,  they  continued  to  increase 
their  equipments  for  war.  It  is  important  that 
these  international  conferences  be  held,  but  Mr. 
Capen  was  of  the  conviction  that  much  of  their 
work  is  undone  by  the  fact  that  these  same  nations 
continue  to  build  their  battleships  and  that  if  we 
should  take  the  initiative  and  call  a  halt  in  our 

[124] 


A   PEACE   MAKER 

great  expenditures  the  world  would  soon  follow 
us.  "No  nation  ever  built  up  a  great  army  or 
navy  that  sooner  or  later  did  not  get  into  war; 
peace  which  depends  upon  force  to  preserve  it  will 
never  last." 

No  group  of  men  working  for  a  great  moral 
cause  have  lived  to  see  their  faith  so  nearly 
realized  as  this  company  who  met  at  Mohonk  year 
after  year.  Not  that  wars  have  been  abolished; 
but  the  peace  sentiment  has  been  widely  diffused. 
The  business  men  of  the  world,  excepting  the  in- 
ventors of  the  instruments  of  war,  and  those  who 
make  capital  out  of  armies  and  navies,  are  de- 
manding peace. 

The  delegates  to  Mohonk  were  at  first  largely 
professional  men,  editors  of  newspapers,  minis- 
ters and  workers  in  reform  movements.  There 
were  few  business  men  in  the  membership.  Mr. 
Capen  was  exceedingly  helpful  in  increasing  the 
number  of  business  men  at  this  Conference,  and 
devoted  much  of  his  energy  toward  interesting 
Chambers  of  Commerce  throughout  America  in 
the  cause ;  and  he  had  the  profound  satisfaction  of 
seeing  about  two  hundred  Boards  of  Trade  and 
Chambers  of  Commerce  endorsing  President 
Taft's  treaties  on  arbitration. 

From  so  small  a  beginning  in  1895,  this  peace 
movement  had  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  business 
men  of  the  world  that  at  the  Fifth  International 
Congress  of  Chambers  of  Commerce,  held  in  Bos- 
ton in  1912,  the  question  of  arbitration  was  given 
a  large  place  both  by  foreign  and  American  dele- 

[125] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

gations.  They  had  come  to  recognize  that  all 
business  and  financial  interests  are  thrown  into 
chaos  by  anything  that  interrupts  the  peace  of  the 
world.  This  Congress  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant meetings  of  business  men  that  the  world  had 
ever  seen,  and  it  was  a  great  moment  when,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  President,  M.  Canon-Le- 
grand,  a  resolution  which  he  had  drawn  covering 
the  whole  field  of  international  arbitration  was 
passed  with  intense  enthusiasm — so  great  indeed 
that  the  members  of  the  Congress  stood  on  their 
chairs  and  waved  their  hats.  It  was  a  message  of 
the  commercial  leaders  of  forty-five  nations  to  the 
governments  of  the  world. 

While  we  have  written  of  Mr.  Capen's  work 
for  peace  in  connection  with  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce and  the  Mohonk  Conference,  we  must  not 
forget  that  he  was  also  President  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Peace  Society  and  a  director  of  the 
World  Peace  Foundation.  As  President  of  the 
former  organization  he  gave  much  of  his  time, 
both  in  committee  work  and  in  public  utterance, 
to  furthering  its  principles ;  and  on  his  last  jour- 
ney to  India  and  China  he  went  as  an  official  rep- 
resentative of  the  Peace  Foundation.  He  wrote 
many  enthusiastic  letters  from  India  indicat- 
ing the  spread  of  the  peace  idea  and  the  eager- 
ness with  which  men  listened  to  the  plea  for 
abolition  of  war  in  favor  of  arbitration. 


[126] 


CHAPTER  IX 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BOARD 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions  has  always  enlisted  in  its  serv- 
ice the  strongest  men  of  the  Congregational 
churches.  Its  first  President  was  John  Treadwell, 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  the  noble  succession 
has  included  such  leaders  as  Mark  Hopkins  and 
Richard  Salter  Storrs,  men  who  have  represented, 
both  intellectually  and  spiritually,  the  best  reli- 
gious life  of  our  nation.  During  the  one  hundred 
and  three  years  of  the  Board's  history,  there  have 
been  only  eight  Presidents,  four  of  whom  were 
laymen  and  four  clergymen.  The  laymen  have 
served  a  total  of  fifty-five  years  and  the  clergymen 
forty-five  years.  A  Vice-President  served  three 
years.  The  shortest  term  of  service  was  that  of 
the  fine-spirited  minister  of  the  First  Church  of 
Hartford,  Rev.  Charles  M.  Lamson,  who  was 
elected  in  1897  and  was  permitted  only  two  years 
of  leadership  before  death  brought  his  work  to  a 
close. 

For  the  Board  to  continue  this  succession  of 
great  men  was  no  easy  task.  The  memory  of  Dr. 
Richard  Storrs  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of  its 
constituency,  and  the  traditions  of  Dr.  Mark  Hop- 
kins still  so  exalted  the  office  of  President  that  it 
was  difficult  to  find  any  man  who  could  meet  the 
demands  which  had  been  set  so  high. 

[127] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

In  1899,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American 
Board,  held  that  year  in  Providence,  Ehode 
Island,  Samuel  B.  Capen  was  elected  President. 
Though  he  had  gained  wide  experience  in  church 
and  civic  affairs,  he  hesitated  before  accepting 
this  new  honor.  He  knew  what  were  the  tradi- 
tions that  must  be  upheld,  and  moreover  he  felt 
himself  inadequately  informed  on  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary problem.  He  had  always  been  a  liberal 
giver  to  the  work,  and  since  1883  had  been  a  cor- 
porate member  of  the  Board;  but,  absorbed  in 
other  phases  of  church  activity,  and  especially  in 
the  problems  of  the  city,  he  had  not  given  atten- 
tion to  the  special  problems  confronting  the 
foreign  missionary  nor  to  the  questions  of  admin- 
istration. He  realized  also  the  greatness  of  the 
work,  believing  that  the  presidency  of  the  Board 
was  the  highest  office  the  Congregationalists  could 
bestow  upon  any  of  their  number.  Repeatedly 
in  after  years  he  has  said,  when  speaking  of 
the  widely-extended  and  diversified  activity  of  the 
Board,  "Surely  this  is  the  greatest  work  in  the 
world. ' '  He  felt  this  from  the  time  when  he  was 
suggested  for  the  presidency,  and  he  questioned 
his  ability  to  undertake  the  great  task. 

Once  he  consented  to  the  election,  he  took  his 
conspicuous  position  with  solemn  seriousness, 
feeling  that  he  had  been  called  of  God  to  lead  the 
work  of  establishing  His  Kingdom  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  Those  who  have  been 
closest  to  him  during  the  intervening  years  know 
how  conscientiously  he  has  obeyed  this  call. 

[128] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

Immediately  after  election  Mr.  Capen  under- 
took the  tasks  before  him  in  a  manner  that  had 
characterized  the  work  of  no  other  President  of 
the  Board.  This  distinctive  method  of  adminis- 
tration was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  he  lived  in 
Boston,  but  chiefly  to  the  operation  of  one  of  the 
fixed  principles  of  his  life.  He  would  never  accept 
any  office  to  be  a  figurehead.  He  would  enter  upon 
a  task  only  with  the  understanding  that  he  could 
become  a  vital  part  of  the  work,  throwing  into  it 
the  whole  force  of  his  personality  and  contributing 
to  its  guidance  his  wisdom  and  strength. 

The  rules  of  the  American  Board  made  its  pres- 
ident and  vice-president  ex-officiis  members  of  its 
Prudential  Committee,  the  body  which  controls 
and  directs  its  work,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
Mr.  Capen,  immediately  after  election,  began  to 
attend  the  weekly  meetings  of  this  Committee,  to 
contribute  to  the  direction  of  affairs  and  to  the 
shaping  of  policies.  Not  only  did  he  give  to  the 
office  a  meaning  that  it  had  never  had,  but  he  be- 
came a  vital  factor  in  the  organization  and  his 
activity  was  second  only  to  that  of  the  secretaries, 
who  devoted  all  their  time  to  the  work. 

Through  this  close  association  with  the  Pruden- 
tial Committee,  he  brought  to  the  work  of  the 
Board  the  same  keen  business  insight  as  he  had 
shown  in  the  Sunday  School  and  Publishing 
Society  and  other  organizations.  Through  his 
efforts  some  departments  were  entirely  reorgan- 
ized, becoming  more  efficient  and  economical. 

Those  who  were  accustomed  to  attend  the  an- 

[129] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

nual  meetings  of  the  American  Board  can  never 
forget  the  dignity  and  grace  with  which  Mr. 
Capen  presided,  the  ease  with  which  he  carried 
through  crowded  programs,  nor  the  strictness 
with  which  he  held  every  speaker  to  his  time,  for- 
bidding him  to  steal  the  minutes  alloted  to  the 
man  who  was  to  follow  him.  He  was  a  prince 
among  presiding  officers,  uniting  firmness  with 
courtesy  and  combining  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
parliamentary  procedure  with  a  kindly  human 
spirit. 

By  this  combination  of  qualities  he  was  able  to 
accomplish  needed  reforms  in  these  annual  gath- 
erings. It  had  been  customary  to  have  the  secre- 
taries read  their  reports,  though  they  were 
printed  and  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  then 
to  have  long  reports  upon  the  reports.  Noted  di- 
vines were  invited  to  deliver  eloquent  orations  on 
what  they  thought  about  missionary  problems, 
and  as  most  of  them  usually  exceeded  their  time 
limits,  those  in  attendance  generally  had  no  op- 
portunity to  listen  to  the  missionaries  themselves, 
whom  they  really  wanted  to  hear.  Mr.  Capen  was 
largely  instrumental  in  abolishing  the  reading  of 
the  reports  of  the  secretaries  and  in  holding 
speakers  to  the  time  assigned  to  them.  He  proved 
himself  the  friend  of  the  missionaries  by  giving 
them  an  opportunity  to  deliver  the  messages  they 
had  brought  from  the  foreign  lands  with  the  hope 
and  the  prayer  that  they  might  touch  the  hearts 
of  the  friends  at  home  and  awaken  greater  inter- 
est in  their  work. 

[130] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

His  bearing  upon  the  platform  and  his  manner 
of  speech  were  so  full  of  sympathy  that  he  gave 
courage  and  strength  to  those  who  were  to  speak. 
James  D.  Taylor  of  Impolweni,  Africa,  in  a  letter 
written  after  Mr.  Capen's  death,  bore  beautiful 
testimony  to  this  trait :  *  *  I  shall  never  forget  how 
I  was  heartened  for  my  speech  at  the  Board  Meet- 
ing in  Brooklyn,  by  the  hearty  hand-clasp  and 
cheering  word  with  which  he  drew  me  to  the  desk 
and  presented  me  to  the  audience.  It  was  just 
the  right  thing  to  make  a  man  forget  himself  at 
the  moment  when  it  was  most  necessary  and  most 
difficult  to  do  so." 

A  similar  testimony  is  received  from  one  of  our 
missionaries  in  Turkey,  Miss  Clara  Richmond, 
who  is  supported  by  the  Central  Church  of  Ja- 
maica Plain.  Referring  to  the  time  when  she  was 
compelled  to  meet  the  Prudential  Committee,  in 
anticipation  of  her  appointment  to  the  mission 
field,  she  writes:  ''Although  my  heart  was  full 
of  the  desire  to  come  and  live  my  life  for  our 
work  here,  as  I  thought  of  what  our  American 
Board  stands  for,  and  of  what  a  great  force  it  is 
in  the  world,  I  was  almost  overwhelmed  with  the 
thought  of  being  a  part  of  such  a  great  organiza- 
tion and  work.  For  a  moment  I  was  overwhelmed 
with  fear.  Can  I  do  and  be  what  a  missionary  of 
this  Board  must  do  and  be?  Just  then  I  reached 
Dr.  Capen  as  we  were  being  introduced  to  the 
members.  As  my  name  was  given  to  him,  putting 
his  hand  on  my  shoulder  he  said,  *  Oh,  yes,  this  is 
our  girl!'  That  may  have  been  a  small  thing 

[131] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

compared  with  the  many  greater  things  he  did, 
but  it  meant  so  much  to  me.  Such  a  gladness 
came  and  the  fear  went.  I  felt  that  God  would 
give  strength  and  everything  needed." 

Mr.  Capen  had  a  profound  belief  that  the  rapid 
conversion  of  the  world  had  become  a  question  of 
money,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  himself  called  by 
God  in  a  special  way  to  press  this  phase  of  mis- 
sionary work  upon  the  conscience  of  the  American 
people.  A  few  months  after  his  election  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  Board,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Mott: 
' '  For  twenty  years  I  have  been  praying  and  writ- 
ing and  speaking  about  this  money  problem,  and 
it  has  become  a  passionate  desire  that  somehow 
the  Lord  may  use  me  to  help  toward  the  larger 
things  which  are  perfectly  within  the  power  of  the 
Church  to  accomplish." 

Those  who  knew  him  personally  understood 
how  earnestly  he  gave  his  attention  to  this  prob- 
lem, and  those  who  have  read  his  published  ad- 
dresses will  find  this  the  theme  that  is  ever  to  the 
front,  presented  with  all  the  power  of  great  con- 
viction. One  of  his  strongest  and  most  telling 
appeals  was  made  before  the  National  Council  at 
Syracuse  in  1895,  when  he  uttered  his  plea  for 
denominational  loyalty,  showing  that  only  a  little 
more  than  one-half  of  the  gifts  of  the  members 
of  his  Church  went  to  the  support  of  the  Congre- 
gational missionary  societies.  Not  less  than  $1,- 
000,000  was  contributed  outside  of  recognized 
denominational  channels,  and  while  some  of  this 
was  devoted  to  the  most  worthy  purposes,  much 

[132] 


IN  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

of  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  religious  tramps  and 
was  frittered  away.  "Good  business  and  com- 
mon sense  declare,"  said  Mr.  Capen,  "that  money 
given  to  our  own  missionary  societies,  whose  work 
is  publicly  and  constantly  open  to  review  by  a 
whole  denomination  of  givers,  is  the  least  likely  to 
be  wasted  and  the  most  likely  to  bring  permanent 
results.  It  is  self-evident  that  the  men  who  care 
for  our  societies,  and  whose  home  and  field  secre- 
taries and  missionaries  are  experts  in  their  vari- 
ous lines,  can  invest  money  for  Christ's  Kingdom 
to  better  advantage  than  the  inexperienced. 
There  is  something  very  attractive,  I  know,  to  a 
certain  class  of  minds  in  the  appeal  not  to  be  nar- 
row and  sectarian  in  their  gifts,  but  such  breadth 
is  usually  at  the  expense  of  efficiency.  The  money, 
if  not  wholly  wasted,  might  be  used  to  better 
advantage. ' ' 

In  his  annual  address  in  1901,  delivered  at  Hart- 
ford, Mr.  Capen  presented  a  plan  which  he 
thought  would  increase  the  gifts  of  the  Board. 
If  three  hundred  thousand  members  of  Congrega- 
tional churches,  or  less  than  one-half  of  its  total 
membership,  were  to  give  on  an  average  three 
cents  a  day  for  missionary  work,  the  total  amount 
secured  would  be  over  three  million  dollars  an- 
nually, or  nearly  twice  what  was  being  given  at 
that  time.  When  he  thought  of  the  men  who  were 
giving  hundreds  and  thousands  of  dollars  every 
year  to  this  work,  such  a  small  individual  average 
seemed  to  him  entirely  within  the  ability  of  the 
Church.  Apparently  it  was  simply  a  question  of 

[133] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

method,  and  method  had  largely  been  lacking 
throughout  the  churches.  Public  appeals  were 
good,  but  they  were  not  sufficient.  A  nickel  or  a 
dime  satisfied  the  conscience  of  men  when  the  con- 
tribution plate  was  passed.  Pastoral  and  church 
committee  circulars  were  good,  and,  when  wisely 
used,  had  often  doubled  and  trebled  the  contri- 
butions of  the  churches;  but  every  one  has  a 
waste-basket,  and  people  not  interested  in  mis- 
sions find  it  very  easy  to  consign  all  such  circulars 
to  this  receptacle. 

Mr.  Capen  believed  that  the  churches  should  go 
further  than  these  methods  by  making  personal 
appeals  through  some  of  their  members — for  they 
cannot  easily  be  put  into  waste-baskets.  He  ar- 
gued that : 1 1  Our  churches  should  enter  upon  some 
plan  of  systematic  organization  with  the  purpose 
of  reaching  by  personal  canvass  every  member  of 
our  churches,  securing  from  each  one  a  definite 
pledge  for  our  missionary  work.  The  church  must 
be  as  earnest  in  its  efforts  as  business  men  are  in 
theirs,  if  it  is  to  have  the  means  to  properly  carry 
on  its  missionary  work.  Other  people  are  can- 
vassing for  everything  under  the  heavens.  Our 
churches  cannot  sit  still  in  the  old  way  and  trust 
people  to  give  when  the  day  arrives  for  taking  the 
annual  contribution.  They  must  be  personally 
asked  to  make  a  pledge  worthy  of  themselves, 
bearing  some  fair  proportion  of  their  ability  to 
give,  and  worthy  of  the  Master  whom  they  serve." 

With  his  practical  business  insight  and  experi- 
ence, he  realized  that  if  men  were  to  give  in  any 

[134] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

large  amount  they  must  know  the  needs.  Hence 
he  urged  upon  the  leaders  a  greater  definiteness 
in  the  missionary  appeal.  In  writing  to  Mr.  Mott 
he  said: 

"We  want,  somehow  or  other,  to  get  the  facts 
of  what  is  possible  to  be  done,  if  we  had  the 
money,  before  men  who  have  the  money  to  give. 
I  have  been  led  perhaps  to  feel  the  force  of  this 
because  of  an  experience  which  I  had  over  ten 
years  ago,  when  a  member  of  the  Boston  School 
Committee.  I  was  elected  at  a  time  when  there 
had  been  very  great  neglect  in  the  matter  of  new 
school  buildings.  There  seemed  to  be  a  studied 
attempt  to  stifle  our  public  schools  by  cutting  off 
their  supplies.  I  remember  that  almost  the  first 
thing  I  did  was  to  look  up  the  figures,  and  I  found 
that  the  City  of  Boston  was  appropriating  at  that 
time  less  for  buildings  than  it  had  been  ten  years 
before,  while  the  expenditure  for  sewers  had 
gained  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent  and  the 
paving  department  two  hundred  and  fifty  per 
cent.  I  presented  these  facts  publicly;  they  were 
taken  up  by  the  press,  and  an  ex-mayor,  in  self- 
defense,  attacked  me  over  a  fictitious  name.  We 
had  a  contest  through  the  press  and  the  facts  got 
before  the  people.  The  result  was  that  the  next 
four  years  we  had  two  million  dollars  appropri- 
ated for  new  buildings.  Now  it  seems  to  me  that 
if  we  could  in  a  similar  way  present,  in  a  clear 
light,  how  many  native  pastors  and  teachers  could 
be  employed,  how  many  schools  could  be  opened, 
hospitals  built,  etc.,  with  increased  money  at  our 

[135] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

disposal,  the  appeal  would  have  force.  In  other 
words,  would  it  not  be  possible  for  the  representa- 
tives of  the  different  societies  to  make  a  great 
comprehensive  plan  together,  making  a  budget 
costing  millions,  if  you  please,  showing  how  it 
would  be  possible,  during  the  next  twenty  years, 
to  cover  the  whole  world?  Do  you  not  believe  it  is 
possible  that  with  a  well-thought-out  plan  of  this 
sort  we  might  interest  some  very  worthy  men  to  a 
very  much  larger  extent  than  they  have  been  inter- 
ested in  the  past!  Has  not  the  time  come  for  a 
little  more  audacity  in  our  work?  If  only  God 
would  touch  some  man's  heart  and  lead  him 
to  give  a  million  dollars  for  foreign  missions, 
or  even  a  quarter  of  it,  I  believe  others  would 
follow.  Giving  might  become  as  contagious  as 
meanness." 

Being  a  business  man,  Mr.  Capen  naturally 
looked  upon  the  missionary  problem  from  a  busi- 
ness point  of  view.  In  1905,  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  American  Board,  in  Seattle,  Washington, 
he  presented  an  argument  for  foreign  missions 
which  had  never  before  been  offered  to  that  body. 
It  brought  considerable  criticism  upon  him;  not 
because  anyone  questioned  the  sincerity  of  his 
motive,  but  because  the  argument  itself  had  in  it 
a  commercial  ring,  which  offended  some  who  did 
not  consider  the  purpose  which  gave  it  birth.  Mr. 
Capen  suggested  that  only  as  we  develop  missions 
shall  we  have  a  market  in  the  Orient  which  will 
demand  our  manufactured  articles  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  match  our  increased  facilities  for 

[136] 


IN   FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

production.  It  is  the  Christian  man,  he  declared, 
who  is  always  the  customer  of  the  manufacturer ; 
the  heathen  or  the  non-Christian,  as  a  rule,  has 
very  few  wants.  Trade  follows  the  missionary 
rather  than  the  flag.  "When  a  heathen  man  be- 
comes a  Christian,"  said  Mr.  Capen,  "he  wants 
everything  new.  He  wants  the  conveniences  of  a 
Christian  home;  he  wants  a  Christian  plow. 
When  he  is  changed  within,  his  environment  must 
be  changed." 

In  support  of  his  argument  he  offered  a  wealth 
of  illustrations.  "When  our  missionaries  arrived 
in  Hawaii,  in  1820,  the  people  were  only  one  stage 
above  the  brute.  Under  the  teachings  of  the  mis- 
sionary, and  the  influence  of  Christianity,  they 
were  so  far  developed  that  at  the  end  of  twenty 
years  their  business  with  the  United  States,  as 
shown  by  the  tables  which  I  studied  recently  in 
the  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  as  fol- 
lows: Imports,  $227,000;  exports,  $67,000;  total 
trade  with  the  Islands,  $294,000." 

"A  few  years  ago  a  missionary  in  the  Eastern 
Turkey  Mission,  seeing  the  waste  and  loss  to  the 
natives  because  of  the  destruction  of  their  cotton, 
due  to  their  rude  methods,  sent  to  America  for  a 
cotton  gin.  As  a  result,  in  that  region,  there  are 
today  ten  of  these  machines  at  work.  He  also  saw 
their  loss  in  grain,  because  it  was  often  kept  for 
weeks  waiting  for  a  breeze  to  winnow  it.  To  pre- 
vent this,  he  sent  to  America  for  a  winnowing  ma- 
chine, and  now  there  are  in  that  one  locality  a 
hundred  such  machines. 

[137] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

"Without  multiplying  illustrations,  I  think 
what  I  have  said  indicates  how  the  missionary  is 
making  business  for  our  American  merchants. 
The  story  is  told  of  a  pastor  who  tried  to  interest 
one  of  his  business  men  in  foreign  missions,  but 
without  avail.  The  man  was  a  large  manufacturer 
of  plows,  and  one  day  the  minister  persuaded  his 
parishioner  to  visit  one  of  these  foreign  nations 
where  our  missionaries  are  at  work.  The  result 
of  it  was  that  the  manufacturer  opened  up  so 
much  business  that  he  is  today  supporting  four 
missionaries;  and  yet  the  market  for  plows  is  so 
great  that  the  salaries  of  these  missionaries  are 
only  a  fraction  of  his  profits  from  this  field.  Of 
course,  it  would  have  been  far  better  for  this  man 
to  have  become  interested  in  missions  from  the 
higher  motive  of  loyalty  to  Christ  and  because  of 
the  needs  of  men.  But  failing  here,  it  was  better 
for  the  pastor  to  interest  the  man  through  the 
lower  and  selfish  motives.  To  prevent  any  possi- 
ble misunderstanding,  it  ought  to  be  said  emphat- 
ically that  it  is  no  part  of  the  business  of  the 
missionary  to  develop  foreign  commerce.  He  is 
not  interested  in  selling  modern  machinery;  his 
one  thought  is  to  help  and  save  men.  But  from 
his  work  of  Christianizing  and  educating  men  and 
planting  Christian  homes  these  other  results  fol- 
low as  inevitably  as  the  mist  disappears  before  the 
rising  sun." 

It  was  easy  for  men  to  misjudge  this  argument. 
On  the  surface  it  seemed  unworthy  and  lacking  in 
altruistic  motives.  Some  people  who  did  not  know 

[138] 


IN   FOEEIGN   MISSIONS 

Mr.  Capen  personally  felt  that  he  was  placing 
missionary  work  on  a  commercial  basis  and  reduc- 
ing its  high  purpose  to  one  of  pure  selfishness. 
But  those  who  knew  him  intimately  caught  the 
force  of  his  argument.  He  was  interested  prima- 
rily in  winning  the  strong  business  men  of  this 
country  to  his  cause,  and  it  may  be  said  with  truth 
that  few  people  have  been  more  successful  in  this 
work  than  he.  He  would  make  a  journey  of  hun- 
dreds of  miles  to  secure  a  large  gift  from  some 
wealthy  man,  or  to  persuade  him  to  include  in  his 
will  a  bequest  to  the  Board.  Men  of  means  had 
great  confidence  in  his  judgment  concerning 
causes  that  were  worthy  of  help,  and  this  ac- 
counts, in  part,  for  the  fact  that  he  was  able  to 
secure  contributions  where  other  men  would  have 
failed.  He  believed  that  his  mission  was  to  the 
laymen,  and  the  passion  of  his  soul  was  to  lead 
them  to  consecrate  their  money,  as  well  as  their 
thoughts  and  prayers,  to  the  work  of  establishing 
the  Kingdom  on  the  earth.  A  study  of  his  ad- 
dresses will  show  that  most  of  them  were  directed 
to  this  end.  His  arguments  were  thought  out  in 
the  counting-room;  his  facts  were  gathered  from 
the  commercial  world.  He  did  not  go  to  literature 
nor  to  history  for  his  illustrations ;  he  found  them 
in  his  conversation  with  business  men,  in  the  re- 
ports of  the  great  world  of  affairs  in  the  daily 
papers,  and  all  his  facts  and  illustrations  and  ar- 
guments were  arranged  to  appeal  to  the  business 
man.  He  seldom  had  a  message  directed  to  minis- 
ters. He  did  not  speak  primarily  to  the  student 

[139] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

nor  to  the  theologian.  He  was  a  part  of  the  great 
commercial  world,  and  he  spoke  to  those  who  lived 
in  this  world. 

This  argument  for  missions  must  be  judged  in 
consideration  of  this  fact,  and  it  probably  had 
more  weight  with  the  audience  to  which  it  was 
directed  than  many  more  finely  conceived  spiritual 
arguments  would  have  had.  It  did  not  touch  the 
clergy;  it  may  not  have  had  great  influence  upon 
those  who  were  already  devoted  to  the  missionary 
cause.  It  did,  however,  interest  some  men  who 
had  to  be  fed  with  milk  before  they  would  consent 
to  eat  meat. 

While  Mr.  Capen  felt  himself  called  in  a  special 
way  to  emphasize  the  financial  side  of  the  mission- 
ary problem,  it  would  be  unfortunate  and  unfair 
to  leave  the  impression  that  he  believed  the  world 
was  to  be  converted  by  dollars  and  cents.  He  was 
not  all  business.  He  had  a  rare  spiritual  sense, 
lived  a  life  of  prayer  as  do  few  men  of  any  genera- 
tion, and  believed  there  was  only  one  name  given 
among  men  whereby  they  could  be  saved.  "What 
we  need,  today,  more  than  anything  else,"  he 
said, ' '  is  a  deeper  spiritual  life.  We  shall  get  the 
men  we  need  without  the  slightest  difficulty  when 
we  are  all  more  faithful  '  in  the  Quiet  Hour. '  Life 
is  so  intense,  there  is  so  much  to  be  done,  that  we 
do  not  take  time  to  grow  within.  The  tree  must 
have  roots  strong  and  deep,  reaching  down  to  the 
hidden  springs,  if  it  would  have  a  sturdy  trunk 
and  bear  fruit  to  perfection.  The  men  who  give 
generously,  and  who  have  power  in  the  world,  are 

[140] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

the  men  who  have  first  touched  God;  who,  with 
the  world  shut  out,  have  been  alone  with  him.  The 
motive  of  it  all  will  be  love  to  Christ.  To  quote 
from  Dr.  William  M.  Taylor,  'The  Lord  did  not 
say,  Peter,  lovest  thou  the  work?  Or  lovest  thou 
my  lambs?  But  lovest  thou  me?' 

If  Mr.  Capen  used  the  commercial  argument 
when  speaking  to  the  uninterested  business  man, 
he  lifted  his  whole  appeal  into  the  highest  realm 
when  he  spoke  to  church  people.  Looking  about 
him  he  saw  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church  were  entirely  indif- 
ferent to  the  cause  of  missions.  "If  we  ask,"  he 
said,  "for  the  definite  reasons  for  such  indiffer- 
ence, they  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  some  men 
have  failed,  as  yet,  to  accept  the  great  teachings  of 
the  Master  in  regard  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  The  most  superficial  reader  of  the  Bible 
must  recognize  that  his  purpose  was  to  found  a 
universal  empire.  Jews  and  Greeks  had  an  exclu- 
sive religion,  and  they  called  the  whole  world  out- 
side of  their  circles  barbarians.  Jesus  destroyed 
this  by  teaching  the  brotherhood  of  the  whole  race 
and  the  universality  of  his  religion.  There  are 
men  in  our  churches  today  who  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  yet  who  tell  you  with  unblushing 
faces  that  they  do  not  believe  in  foreign  missions. 
These  people  admit  their  interest  in  city  missions, 
in  home  missions,  or  possibly  in  work  for  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  but  that  is  all.  They  would 
feel  insulted  if  you  told  them  that  they  were  as 
narrow  in  their  thinking  as  those  who  lived  nine- 

[141] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

teen  centuries  ago,  but  that  is  the  exact  truth. 
They  stand  where  the  old  Jews  did  in  Christ's 
time,  believing  that  the  true  religion  was  only  for 
the  Hebrew  race,  and  that  the  interest  of  those 
outside  was  no  affair  of  theirs.  Such  a  position  is 
absolute  disloyalty  to  the  expressed  command  of 
Christ." 

Many  of  Mr.  Capen's  friends  often  marveled 
at  the  zeal  with  which  he  would  impress  the  obli- 
gation of  giving  upon  the  conscience  of  some  man 
who  he  believed  was  not  doing  what  he  should  in 
the  work  of  his  church.  He  never  failed  to  ap- 
proach such  a  man  with  his  natural  grace  and 
courtesy,  unless  he  felt  that  every  argument  had 
been  exhausted.  Then  he  would  talk,  with  the 
sharpness  of  an  Amos,  directly  to  the  man's  con- 
science. To  one  man  of  wealth  he  pointed  his 
finger,  looking  him  straight  in  the  eye,  and  said, 
"You  are  robbing  God;  your  money  is  not  your 
own,  and  you  have  no  right  to  keep  it  as  you  do. ' ' 
It  was  this  profound  belief  that  men  did  not  own 
their  money  which  furnished  the  real  basis  for  all 
his  arguments  for  giving.  In  one  of  his  addresses, 
he  said:  "There  is  an  entirely  erroneous  concep- 
tion about  the  ownership  of  money.  Men  start 
from  the  wrong  premises,  and  believe  that  what 
they  have  is  their  own,  and  that  it  is  entirely  op- 
tional whether  they  give  anything  or  not.  You 
ask  for  a  gift  to  foreign  missions,  and  they  treat 
your  request  as  they  would  to  buy  a  ticket  for  a 
lecture  or  a  concert,  as  a  matter  simply  of  per- 
sonal choice  or  inclination.  This  is  the  worst  pos- 

[142] 


IN   FOEEIGN  MISSIONS 

sible  heresy.  God  said,  'The  silver  and  the  gold 
and  the  lands  are  mine.'  We,  therefore,  are  not 
the  owners,  but  only  the  trustees  of  what  we  have, 
a  difference  that  is  almost  as  great  as  that  be- 
tween darkness  and  light.  The  question  then  is 
not,  'How  much  of  mine  shall  I  give?'  but,  'What 
part  of  God's  shall  I  keep  for  myself?'  It  is  not 
what  we  give,  but  what  we  have  left,  that  meas- 
ures the  gift  from  God's  standpoint.  Stewardship 
is  the  great  idea  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
Christian  who  does  not  recognize  it  is,  in  plain 
language,  stealing  trust  funds.  The  money  He 
helps  us  to  make  is  His  money,  and  how  we  use  it 
is  a  test  of  our  discipleship. " 

Mr.  Capen's  greatest  argument  for  missions — 
the  one  upon  which  he  loved  to  dwell — was  the 
spiritual  argument.  He  believed  that  we  must 
develop  foreign  missions  to  save  our  nation  spir- 
itually. He  saw  that  the  great  peril  of  America 
was  the  materialistic  spirit,  the  passion  to  be  rich 
at  any  cost.  He  once  quoted  Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert 
Hall's  word  picture  of  our  American  civilization, 
which  unfortunately  has  in  it  a  large  element  of 
truth.  "It  is  a  matter  of  consternation  and  deep 
concern  to  us  that  the  moral  standard  of  American 
life  is  deteriorating.  In  the  hustle  and  bustle  of 
every-day  activities,  we  have  astonished  the 
world,  but  morally  we  are  rapidly  going  astern,  so 
rapidly  that  one  is  dumbfounded  at  the  contrast 
after  a  visit  to  some  of  the  countries  of  the  Old 
World.  I  know,  from  observation,  that  religion 
has  little,  if  any,  part  in  our  American  civilization 

[143] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

today.  This  is  a  lamentable  state  of  affairs,  and 
it  behooves  each  and  all  of  us  to  do  all  we  can  to 
help  to  stem  this  tide  of  indifference.  Our  home 
life  is  not  what  it  should  be.  Is  it  to  be  wondered 
at,  when  we  realize  the  general  apathy  of  the  peo- 
ple as  regards  their  spiritual  welfare?"  Mr. 
Capen,  with  his  keen  spiritual  insight,  saw  that  the 
wonderful  prosperity  of  this  nation  is  its  peril — 
that  other  nations,  in  centuries  past,  have  declined 
because  they  have  become  prosperous,  and  wealthy 
and  luxurious.  "The  antidote  to  the  poison  of 
selfish  ease  is  self-denial.  There  is  no  law  in  the 
universe  more  certain  than  this;  wealth  that  is 
hoarded  is  certain  to  be  a  curse.  If  we  neglect  the 
needy  and  think  only  of  ourselves,  there  must  be  a 
decline  in  our  spiritual  life.  Every  man  and  na- 
tion must  be  interested  in  foreign  missions  to  save 
him  from  narrowness." 

There  were  three  convictions  which  he  used  as 
guiding  principles  in  his  local  church  in  Jamaica 
Plain  and  which  he  was  constantly  presenting  to 
other  churches.  The  first  was  that  it  is  missions 
that  will  save  the  home  church  as  well  as  the  na- 
tion. As  a  result  of  our  great  material  prosper- 
ity, worldliness  has  crept  into  our  churches, 
oftentimes  weakening  their  influence;  yet  they 
have  more  serious  problems  confronting  them 
than  they  have  had  for  generations.  The  govern- 
ment of  our  cities  is  still  in  the  experimental 
\  stage ;  in  many  respects  it  has  been  a  conspicuous 
failure.  We  are  all  working  upon  one  of  the 
greatest  tasks  of  the  centuries — that  of  welding 

[144] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

into  one  free  republic  representatives  of  all  na- 
tions. If  our  churches  are  to  meet  and  help  to 
master  these  tremendous  problems,  there  must  be 
an  awakening  of  the  religious  life.  Whence  will 
it  come?  ''Not  education  or  culture,"  said  Mr. 
Capen,  ''but  God  in  human  lives  is  to  be  our  sal- 
vation, and  I  believe  the  surest  way  to  have  this 
new  religious  interest  at  home,  is  to  be  more  ear- 
nest in  our  work  abroad.  It  is  the  self-sacrificing 
spirit  that  makes  the  most  forcible  appeal.  When 
we  get  into  broader  sympathy  with  the  whole 
world,  remember  that  we  are  our  brother 's  keeper, 
and  that  our  brother  is  the  man  in  greatest  need 
at  the  ends  of  the  earth,  then  the  blessings  the 
Master  gives  will  come  to  our  own  churches  at 
home. ' ' 

Mr.  Capen 's  second  firm  conviction  was  that 
extravagance  is  as  wrong  in  the  home  church  as  in 
the  life  of  the  individual  Christian.  He  was  con- 
fident that  many  of  our  churches  are  failing  to 
exemplify  the  Christ  life.  Many  times  he  referred 
to  a  gentleman  in  the  city  of  New  York  who  once 
tried  to  persuade  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon  to  spend  a 
Sabbath  with  him,  and  as  an  inducement  offered 
the  opportunity  of  listening  to  the  wonderful  five- 
thousand-dollar  quartette  in  his  church.  "How 
much  does  your  church  give  a  year  for  missions?" 
was  Dr.  Gordon's  quick  response.  The  man 
turned  red  in  the  face  and  finally  stammered, 
"About  five  hundred." 

Irony  and  sarcasm  were  seldom  utilized  in  Mr. 
Capen 's  public  utterances.  These  elements,  so 

[1451 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

common  to  the  rhetorician,  were  foreign  to  Mr. 
Capen's  manner,  yet  they  crept  into  the  tones  of 
his  voice  and  into  his  language  when  he  referred 
to  those  parishes  which  were  spending  perhaps 
twenty  thousand  dollars  upon  themselves  and  only 
two  thousand  upon  benevolence.  He  believed  that 
they  were  untrue  to  the  spirit  of  the  Master  and 
disloyal  to  his  great  command. 

The  third  principle  upon  which  Mr.  Capen  was 
insistent  was  that  no  man  should  ever  be  or- 
dained to  the  ministry  or  installed  over  a  church 
who  is  not  earnestly  in  sympathy  with  missionary 
work.  "If  a  man  has  been  settled  over  a  church 
and  seeks  to  change,  I  think  one  of  the  first  in- 
quiries should  be  as  to  his  attitude  toward  mis- 
sionary work.  I  do  not  care  how  sound  he  may  be 
in  his  doctrines  and  confession  of  faith,  so  long  as 
he  is  in  his  practices  unsound.  A  pastor  who  does 
not  believe  in  missions  has  a  flaw  in  his  title.  An 
ambassador  represents  his  sovereign;  so  a  man 
represents  the  Christ  whom  he  has  promised  to 
serve.  It  is  a  downright  breach  of  faith  to  men 
out  on  the  firing  line  to  have  ministers  at  home  in- 
different to  the  missionary  appeal.  If  they  will 
not  bear  a  hand  in  the  commissary  department 
and  help  support  the  army,  let  them  resign.  The 
time  has  come  to  make  this  issue  clear  and  unmis- 
takable. One  clergyman  said  recently  to  another, 
who  had  been  spending  a  great  deal  of  his  time 
in  raising  a  large  amount  for  ornamental  win- 
dows in  his  church,  'What  are  you  going  to  do 
next?  You  can't  run  a  church  forever  on  stained 

[146] 


IN   FOEEIGN   MISSIONS 

glass  windows.'  This  pointed  rebuke,  in  some 
form,  ought  to  be  spoken  to  many. ' ' 

There  has  been  one  constant  embarrassment  in 
writing  this  life.  Nearly  all  that  Mr.  Capen  ac- 
complished was  done  in  conjunction  with  other 
men.  He  did  not  work  independently,  but  through 
committees  and  recognized  organizations.  Yet  we 
have  written  of  him  as  an  individual,  trying  to 
present  a  picture  of  his  personality  as  it  ex- 
pressed itself  through  ideas  and  achievements. 
We  may,  at  times,  have  done  injustice  to  his  asso- 
ciates, those  with  whom  he  labored  faithfully,  and 
who  often  contributed  as  much  as  he  did  toward 
the  final  results.  It  is  a  fault  which  seems  una- 
voidable, owing  to  the  nature  of  the  case. 

But  there  was  one  thing  that  he  did  for  the 
American  Board  which  may  be  called  his  own 
creation.  He  established  The  Twentieth  Century 
Fund,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  provide  against 
incurring  a  debt  through  the  uncertain  income 
from  legacies.  To  illustrate  this  irregularity :  re- 
ceipts of  the  American  Board  from  legacies  in 
1892  were  nearly  $250,000;  in  1893  they  were 
$187,000;  and  in  1899  they  were  only  $102,000. 
The  debt  with  which  the  Board  started  the  year 
1900  was  due  entirely  to  this  shrinkage  in  lega- 
cies. The  large  increase  in  gifts  from  the  living 
would  have  prevented  any  debt  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  decline  in  legacies. 

The  method  had  been  to  use  legacies  as  they 
were  received.  Mr.  Capen  proposed  to  put  lega- 
cies into  a  fund,  only  one-third  of  which  was  to  be 

[147] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

spent  each  year.  To  effect  this  change  in  financial 
administration,  however,  it  was  necessary  to  cre- 
ate a  fund  of  at  least  $250,000,  and  this  was  to  be 
known  as  The  Twentieth  Century  Fund. 

1 1  To  prevent  all  misunderstanding  and  make  en- 
tirely clear  the  plan  in  its  practical  working,  let 
us  suppose  we  have  no  debt,  that  the  $250,000  was 
in  the  fund  today  and  that  the  current  receipts 
from  legacies  for  this  fiscal  year  were  $100,000. 
This  would  make  the  total  $350,000,  and  spending 
one-third,  or  $117,000,  would  leave  the  fund  $233,- 
000  for  the  next  year.  Suppose  the  legacy  re- 
ceipts for  1901  were  $150,000,  the  total  would  then 
be  $383,000.  Spending  one-third,  or  $128,000, 
would  leave  $255,000  to  carry  forward.  Suppose 
now  the  legacies  fall  again  in  1902  to  $100,000. 
The  fund  would  stand  at  $355,000,  one-third  spent 
would  be  $118,000,  and  $237,000  would  be  carried 
forward.  If  in  1903  the  receipts  were  $125,000, 
the  fund  would  be  $362,000.  Spending  one-third, 
or  $121,000,  the  fund  would  remain  with  which  to 
begin  1904  as  $241,000.  These  figures  do  not  take 
account  of  accrued  interest  on  the  fund.  With 
this  added,  the  fund  would  be  over  $250,000  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1904." 

If  there  was  ever  an  example  of  true,  Christian 
service,  it  was  in  the  life  of  this  man.  He  never 
received  a  cent  of  pay  for  any  of  his  work  for  his 
denomination,  but  gave  gladly  and  lavishly  of  his 
time.  Men  often  marveled  at  his  energy.  Dr. 
James  L.  Barton,  Foreign  Secretary  of  the  Board, 
wrote : '  *  His  activities  in  raising  money,  attending 

[148] 


IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

conferences,  holding  private  interviews,  conduct- 
ing an  extensive  correspondence,  sitting  in  com- 
mittees and  informing  himself  on  the  subject  were 
incessant. ' ' 

Rev.  H.  Fairbank  wrote  to  Dr.  Edward  W. 
Capen  concerning  his  father's  last  journey  to  the 
mission  fields:  "Your  father  worked  hard  on  the 
way  from  Colombo  to  Hong  Kong,  writing  letters 
and  articles  and  thinking  over  his  addresses.  I 
felt  ashamed  when  I  did  not  feel  equal  to  doing  as 
steady  work  as  he  did." 

This  intense  activity,  never  ceasing,  never  wast- 
ing a  minute,  grew  out  of  the  conviction  that '  *  The 
King's  business  requires  haste" — that  if  the 
world  is  to  be  won,  it  must  be  won  in  this  genera- 
tion or  else,  perchance,  the  opportunity  will  be  lost 
for  centuries.  The  spirit  of  the  man  is  revealed  in 
his  annual  address  delivered  in  Manchester,  New 
Hampshire,  in  1903,  as  much  as  in  any  words  he 
ever  uttered:  "Commerce  is  going  everywhere, 
and  commerce  without  Christ  is  a  curse.  It  means 
firearms  and  the  slave  trade  and  rum.  A  schooner 
left  Boston  for  the  west  coast  of  Africa  with  a 
cargo  of  rum  and  gin  valued  at  over  $110,000.  It 
has  been  well  asked  how  many  missionary  contri- 
butions it  will  take  to  counterbalance  the  curse  of 
that  cargo.  The  exports  of  rum  from  the  United 
States  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  were 
1,096,719  gallons  valued  at  $1,458,393.  Judged  by 
previous  years,  ninety  to  ninety-five  per  cent  of 
this  went  to  Africa.  These  statistics  are  a  fear- 
ful arraignment  of  our  sin  as  a  people.  Heathen 

[149] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

nations  have  not  the  moral  stamina,  nor  have  they 
Christian  surroundings,  as  we  have  in  America, 
to  help  them  resist  temptation.  They  need  pro- 
tection because  of  their  weakness.  While  we  are 
neglecting  to  send  the  needed  missionaries,  our 
merchants  are  shipping  to  them  what  has  been 
well  called  'shiploads  of  barreled  deviltry.' 

'  *  Our  Western  civilization  is  pressing  in  every- 
where in  the  East.  Scholars  in  India,  China  and 
Japan  are  seeing  the  absurdity  of  what  they  have 
been  taught ;  the  telegraph  and  the  locomotive  are 
telling  the  Orient  of  the  superiority  of  our  Occi- 
dental civilization.  The  fearful  peril  now  is  that 
by  our  delay  we  shall  leave  in  these  educated 
minds  not  heathenism,  but  agnosticism,  which  is 
far  more  difficult  to  conquer.  This  is  the  real  peril 
in  India  and  Japan  today,  and  will  be  in  China  in 
a  few  years  unless  we  push  our  work  more  rap- 
idly. In  Africa  there  is  another  peril.  The  Mo- 
hammedan College  in  Egypt  is  educating  its 
young  men  by  the  thousands,  and  its  representa- 
tives are  going  to  the  Dark  Continent  in  the  pro- 
portion of  10  to  1  to  our  missionaries.  The  easier 
religion  of  the  Mohammedan,  with  its  low  ideals, 
is  especially  attractive  to  the  ignorant  and  de- 
graded African.  We  recognize  here  in  America 
what  a  difference  it  makes  in  our  frontier  places 
whether  the  Sunday  school  or  the  saloon  is  first  on 
the  ground. 

11  There  is  another  reason  why  our  work  re- 
quires haste,  namely:  to  save  the  lives  of  our 
brave  men  and  women  who  are  so  fearfully  over- 

[150] 


IN   FOBEIGN   MISSIONS 

worked.  As  we  have  already  seen,  this  great  cor- 
poration has  worked  nearly  a  century,  has  opened 
up  a  great  business  with  unusual  success.  We 
have  in  every  mission  evangelists,  teachers,  medi- 
cal missionaries,  etc.,  a  splendid  set  of  men  and 
women  who  are  familiar  with  every  detail,  and 
who  are  compelled  by  the  exigencies  of  the  case  to 
work  overtime  and  under  bad  conditions  because 
of  our  inability  to  give  them  the  necessary 
helpers.  This  is  bad  business  and  worse  human- 
ity. What  makes  it  harder,  they  never  complain 
but  stay  at  the  front  oftentimes  until  they  are 
ready  to  drop. 

"It  ought  to  strengthen  our  purpose  to  rein- 
force our  men  in  the  field  to  remember  the  daily 
sacrifices  of  our  missionaries.  In  many  cases  the 
self-denial  at  the  beginning  does  not  compare  with 
what  comes  later.  I  had  in  my  home  last  Thanks- 
giving one  of  the  ablest  missionaries  of  our  Board 
and  his  devoted  wife,  who  sailed  within  a  day  or 
two  for  their  distant  field.  To  all  outward  ap- 
pearances they  were  calm  and  undisturbed,  but 
we  can  understand  what  was  going  on  in  their 
souls  when  I  tell  you  they  were  leaving  behind 
them  in  this  country  their  six  children,  putting  an 
ocean  between  them  and  those  they  so  dearly 
loved.  Let  us  put  ourselves  in  their  places,  if  we 
may  for  the  moment,  and  would  not  our  hearts 
be  torn  in  anguish  at  such  a  sacrifice?  The  chil- 
dren must  remain  here  in  order  to  be  brought 
up  under  American  conditions,  but  the  price  for 
parents  is  an  awful  one.  It  is  not  so  very  long  ago 

[151] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

that  a  missionary  whose  boat  was  to  sail  very 
early  in  the  morning,  put  his  little  ones  to  bed  in 
their  American  home.  He  said  'Good  night'  and 
*  Good-bye'  to  them  as  bravely  as  he  could;  he 
could  not  help  returning  three  times  after  they 
had  fallen  asleep  to  look  once  more  into  their 
beautiful  faces  before  he  went  thousands  of  miles 
away.  Is  there  anything  but  the  love  of  Jesus 
Christ  that  would  lead  any  man  to  make  such  a 
sacrifice  as  this?" 


[152] 


CHAPTER  X 
MAKING  DENOMINATIONAL  HISTORY 

There  is  one  important  phase  of  Mr.  Capen's 
work  which  will  be  of  little  interest  to  the  general 
reader,  but  which  is  so  important  in  the  history 
of  the  Congregational  churches  that  it  should  be 
embodied  in  this  biography  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  will  wish  to  follow  the  development  of  the 
denomination.  Those  who  are  not  interested  in 
technical  matters  of  polity  might  conveniently 
pass  this  chapter. 

While  the  Congregational  Church  in  America 
may  be  truly  considered  as  the  mother  of  mis- 
sions, yet  in  another  sense  it  has  been  only  in  re- 
cent years  that  the  denomination  has  come  to  the 
consciousness  of  the  great  obligations  resting 
upon  it.  Its  work  has  lacked  unity.  Each  mis- 
sionary organization  has  worked  independently, 
caring  for  its  own  separate  field.  It  was  only  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  last  century  that  there  was 
any  organized  effort  to  bring  the  various  mission- 
ary organizations  into  unity  of  action  and  to  make 
a  concentrated  appeal  to  the  churches  for  funds. 
There  was  a  universal  feeling  of  dissatisfaction 
among  leaders  concerning  the  missionary  activi- 
ties, not  because  any  one  distrusted  the  men  at  the 
head  of  the  various  organizations,  but  because  it 
was  felt  that  the  denominational  machinery  was 

[153] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

inadequate  and  unfit.  Leaders  believed  that  there 
was  a  waste  of  energy,  a  lack  of  method  in  work 
and  a  failure  in  concentration,  and  that  while 
these  unfortunate  features  of  administration  had 
been  operative  in  plunging  several  of  the  societies 
into  debt  the  resources  of  the  church  members 
had  hardly  been  touched.  Missions  were  being 
abandoned,  stations  were  being  given  up, 
and  the  whole  work  at  home  and  abroad  was 
crippled. 

With  these  conditions  confronting  the  Congre- 
gationalists,  Mr.  Capen  set  before  them  at  their 
National  Council  in  Portland,  Oregon,  in  1898,  a 
comprehensive  plan  which  he  believed  would 
bring  greater  effectiveness  into  all  their  mission- 
ary work.  He  argued  that  as  consolidation  or  fed- 
eration had  become  a  practical  necessity  in  the 
business  world,  so  it  had  become  the  great  need 
of  the  Church.  "I  believe  it  is  time  that  our  six 
Missionary  Societies  should  come  into  a  closer 
touch,  a  practical  federation.  The  foundation  of 
this  has  been  laid  in  recent  years  by  the  secreta- 
ries themselves,  in  meeting  once  or  twice  a  year  to 
discuss  problems  which  the  societies  have  in  com- 
mon. But  far  more  than  this,  the  work  which  our 
Denomination  is  doing  through  its  Societies 
should  be  regarded  more  as  one  work,  with  no 
divided  interests  and  no  rivalry." 

As  a  means  to  this  end,  he  urged  that  there 
should  be  one  annual  meeting  of  these  societies 
in  place  of  three  or  more  separate  meetings,  to 
which  they  had  been  accustomed,  and  that  a  week 

[154] 


MAKING   HISTOBY 

or  ten  days  of  every  year  should  be  given  to  a 
joint  consideration  of  their  common  problems. 
"As  it  is  now,  we  see  one  set  of  men  always  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Board,  another  at  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  another  at  the  Ameri- 
can Missionary  Association.  It  is  too  much  like 
the  condition  of  the  Apostolic  churches:  'one  of 
Paul,  another  of  Apollos,  another  of  Cephas. '  We 
want  to  change  this  and  have  our  whole  constitu- 
ency interested  in  one  whole  work  as  being  'all 
for  Christ.'  Although  much  progress  has  been 
made  in  recent  years,  yet  there  is  an  appearance 
at  times  of  a  spirit  which  looks  like  rivalry,  and 
the  churches  sometimes  look  at  the  secretaries  and 
field  agents  as  rivals  with  them.  We  want  to  do 
away  with  all  rivalry  by  having  the  whole  work 
planned  together,  with  the  amount  needed  for 
each  society  agreed  upon  each  year." 

To  bring  about  this  result  Mr.  Capen  recom- 
mended that  a  committee  of  fifteen  be  appointed 
to  advise  with  regard  to  our  whole  missionary 
activity.  The  work  of  this  committee  should  be  to 
remove  the  societies  from  debt,  to  reach,  so  far 
as  possible,  every  Congregational  church  in  the 
country,  to  try  to  enlist  each  church  in  the  plan  of 
giving  something  every  year  to  each  of  the  six 
societies  and  to  organize  throughout  all  the  states 
similar  committees,  which  would,  in  turn,  organize 
conference  committees  large  enough  so  that  each 
member  would  be  responsible  for  not  more  than 
five  churches.  These  committees  were  to  develop 
and  have  charge  of  some  definite  plan  of  mission- 

[155] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ary  work  in  the  churches  in  their  territory,  receiv- 
ing an  offering  from  each  of  them,  and  a  gift  from 
every  member.  Mr.  Capen  urged  furthermore 
that  the  general  committee  appointed  by  the 
Council  should  advise  as  to  the  sum  of  money 
which  ought  to  be  raised  for  each  society,  and 
should  apportion  this  amount  among  the  various 
states,  and  through  the  state  conferences  among 
the  local  churches. 

Mr.  Capen  was  aware  that  this  plan  for  consoli- 
dation of  the  missionary  societies  was  not  so  radi- 
cal a  proposition  as  many  desired.  There  was  a 
feeling  in  many  churches  that  there  should  be  two 
societies  instead  of  six — one  for  foreign  work  and 
the  other  for  the  work  at  home.  * '  But  I  have  not 
felt  that  we  were  yet  prepared  for  this.  The  plan 
I  have  proposed  is  as  long  a  step  forward  as  our 
churches  are  now  ready  to  make.  The  more  com- 
plete union  may  come  later. " 

As  a  result  of  Mr.  Capen 's  proposal,  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  passed:  " Resolved,  that  we 
recommend  the  appointment  of  a  Central  Com- 
mittee on  Missionary  Work,  of  fifteen  members: 
six  to  be  appointed  by  the  National  Council;  one 
of  whom  shall  be  a  woman  especially  interested  in 
home  missions;  seven  to  be  chosen  by  the  execu- 
tive committees  of  our  six  missionary  societies  in 
such  manner  as  they  may  deem  best;  one  to  be 
chosen  by  the  Woman's  Boards  of  Missions,  and 
one  to  be  selected  at  the  Annual  Christian  En- 
deavor Convention  by  the  Congregationalists  at 
their  denominational  rally.  It  shall  be  the  duty 

[156] 


MAKING   HISTORY 

of  this  committee  to  use  all  possible  efforts  to 
secure  the  appointment  of  similar  committees  in 
the  State  Conferences  throughout  our  country, 
to  devise  plans  for  promptly  paying  the  debt  of 
every  society,  and  for  offering  such  increased 
gifts  as  shall  make  it  possible  to  enlarge  our  work 
at  home  and  abroad.  It  shall  also  suggest  such 
other  messages,  looking  to  a  closer  union  in  the 
prosecution  of  our  common  work,  as  may  seem 
expedient,  reporting  the  result  of  its  conclusions 
to  the  next  National  Council. 

"Resolved,  that  this  Council  at  this  session 
choose  its  five  representatives  upon  the  commit- 
tee, and  that  they  be  instructed  by  us  to  ask  the 
co-operation  of  our  missionary  societies  and  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  in 
selecting  the  remaining  members  of  the  committee 
as  proposed.  In  this  battle  with  evil  all  over  the 
world,  in  which  as  Congregationalists  we  wish  to 
bear  our  full  part,  every  dollar  should  be  invested 
where  it  will  most  speedily  provide  a  permanent 
church  or  school  for  a  base  of  supplies.  We  ought 
to  push  forward  in  the  prosecution  of  this  holy 
war  for  righteousness  in  all  the  world;  close  this 
century  and  open  the  next  by  a  grand  forward 
movement  all  along  the  line." 

Some  delay  was  necessary  in  the  completion  of 
the  membership  of  this  Central  Committee,  but  its 
personnel  was  finally  selected  on  December  29, 
1898.  Its  first  meeting  was  held  in  the  parlor  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church,  New  York 
City,  on  April  19,  1899.  As  a  result  of  this  gath- 

[157] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ering  the  Committee  prepared  a  report,  urging 
that  there  should  be  chosen:  first,  by  each  State 
Association  a  committee  composed  of  one  mem- 
ber from  each  conference ;  secondly,  by  each  local 
conference  a  committee  of  such  number  that  each 
member  should  be  responsible  for  not  more  than 
five  churches ;  and  thirdly,  by  each  church  a  com- 
mittee to  make  some  plan  best  suited  to  itself  for 
systematic  giving. 

There  was  an  enthusiastic  response  to  this  ap- 
peal on  the  part  of  the  churches,  although,  true  to 
the  Congregational  fashion,  they  were  still  lack- 
ing in  unity  of  action.  Each  State  Association 
acted  according  to  local  needs  and  to  the  personal 
preferences  of  its  leaders.  The  methods  suggested 
by  local  churches  for  systematic  benevolences 
were  also  varied,  but  it  was  evident  that  there  was 
a  very  substantial  gain  in  missionary  interest.. 
While  the  plan  did  not  call  forth  unity  of  action, 
it  increased  and  fostered  denominational  loyalty. 
It  led  the  churches  to  feel  that  their  missionary 
societies  were  their  children  and  were  not  to  be 
treated  as  orphans  left  to  care  for  themselves  in 
this  cold  world.  It  was  too  much  to  expect  that 
any  plan  could  be  devised  that  would  in  a  short 
time  bring  the  Congregational  churches  together 
in  a  proper  denominational  spirit.  But  the  inaug- 
uration of  the  new  system  proved  that  Congrega- 
tionalists  were  beginning  to  feel  not  only  that 
they  had  a  share  of  responsibility  in  winning 
America  and  the  rest  of  the  world  to  Jesus  Christ, 
but  they  also  had  an  obligation  to  unite  for  the 

[158] 


MAKING   HISTOEY 

accomplishment  of  the  plan  formulated  by  their 
leaders  with  this  end  in  view. 

The  second  matter  referred  to  the  Central  Com- 
mittee was  that  of  a  clearer  federation  of  the  mis- 
sionary societies.  They  held  their  first  meeting 
with  representatives  of  the  six  societies  in  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  on  February  6,  1900.  At  this 
conference  it  was  recommended  that  a  committee 
of  nine  be  formed,  one  member  being  selected  by 
the  Executive  Committee  of  each  of  the  six  socie- 
ties and  the  other  three  being  chosen  by  the  first 
six.  This  recommendation  was  adopted  and  the 
committee  held  its  first  meeting  at  Hartford  on 
July  6, 1900. 

In  view  of  the  great  gains  that  had  been  made 
in  federation  and  systematic  benevolence,  Mr. 
Capen,  at  the  meeting  of  the  National  Council  held 
in  Portland,  Maine,  in  1901,  urged  still  further  ad- 
vances in  these  directions.  "We  believe  that  with 
the  opening  of  the  new  century  the  time  has  fully 
come  when  a  personal  canvass  should  be  made  of 
the  whole  membership  of  our  churches,  to  secure 
from  each  one  some  definite  pledge  for  missionary 
gifts." 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  on 
Missionary  Work,  he  presented  the  following  res- 
olutions, which  were  adopted  by  the  Council:  "It 
is,  therefore,  Resolved,  first,  That  we  urge  upon 
all  our  churches  the  importance  of  laying  added 
emphasis  upon  the  great  missionary  work  at  home 
and  abroad  to  which,  as  Congregationalists,  we 
are  pledged.  Resolved,  second,  That  each  church 

[159] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

be  requested,  by  a  personal  canvass,  to  reach,  as 
far  as  possible,  every  one  of  its  members  with  a 
direct  personal  appeal  for  some  gift  to  each  of  our 
six  missionary  societies.  Eesolved,  third,  That 
our  churches,  so  far  as  practicable,  make  the 
month  of  October  a  missionary  month.  Eesolved, 
fourth,  That  all  our  churches  should  make  some 
provision  in  their  Sunday  school  and  Christian 
Endeavor  Societies  for  educating  our  young  peo- 
ple in  every  department  of  our  missionary  work. 
Eesolved,  fifth,  That  as  the  pastors  are  the  great 
leaders  of  the  church,  we  urge  that  in  all  ordina- 
tions and  installations  the  missionary  knowledge 
and  interest  of  the  candidate  should  be  a  matter  of 
faithful  inquiry.  Eesolved,  sixth,  That  we  ap- 
prove of  so  much  of  the  report  of  the  committee 
of  nine  as  recommends  the  appointment  of  all  sal- 
aried officers  in  our  six  societies  by  executive 
boards;  of  the  plan,  so  far  as  practicable,  of  one 
administrative  head;  and  of  a  limited  governing 
membership  for  each  of  our  home  societies.  Ee- 
solved, seventh,  That  we  would  urge  the  five  home 
societies  to  try  the  experiment  of  a  united  annual 
meeting,  allowing  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Board  to  remain  unchanged  for  the  present.  Hav- 
ing two  annual  meetings  each  year,  one  in  the 
East  and  one  in  the  West,  will  be  one  step  to- 
wards a  closer  federation  of  all  our  missionary 
work.  Eesolved,  eighth,  That  we  recommend  that 
the  executive  boards  of  each  of  our  five  home  so- 
cieties consider  the  proposition  of  having  an  advi- 
sory committee  of  seven  chosen  from  their  own 

[160] 


MAKING   HISTORY 

number  which  shall  hold  stated  meetings,  and  to 
which  all  questions  having  to  do  with  their  joint 
work  shall  be  referred  for  advice;  that  with  the 
addition  of  two  representatives  from  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  this  advisory  committee  take  such 
measures  as  they  deem  advisable,  looking  to  the 
organization  in  all  our  conferences  and  State  mis- 
sionary committees  to  urge  upon  the  churches  the 
adoption  of  definite  and  systematic  plans  of  be- 
nevolence, and  the  appointment  of  local  commit- 
tees to  carry  these  plans  into  effect.  Resolved, 
ninth,  That  we  recommend  that  there  shall  be  two 
missionary  publications,  one  devoted  to  foreign 
work,  the  other  to  home  work,  both  of  them  to  be 
published  monthly  and  to  be  equal  in  literary  abil- 
ity and  typographical  style  to  the  best  publica- 
tions of  the  day.  Resolved,  tenth,  That  we  recom- 
mend that  our  missionary  societies  unite  in  issu- 
ing brief  manuals  of  instruction  and  information, 
suitable  for  permanent  use  in  our  Sunday  schools, 
Young  People's  Societies  and  other  organizations. 
Resolved,  finally,  That  in  memory  of  our  noble  an- 
cestors and  what  they  have  wrought  in  doing 
foundation  missionary  work  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  remembering  their  enthusiastic  belief  in  the 
Congregational  polity  as  in  harmony  with  our 
national  institutions,  it  is  for  us,  their  children,  to 
push  on  to  larger  service,  showing  thereby  that 
we  are  worthy  to  represent  the  faith  and  courage 
and  devotion  of  the  Pilgrims." 

This  Committee,  with  Mr.  Capen  still  Chair- 
man, employed  the  Rev.  Charles  A.  Northrop  of 

[161] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

Norwich,  Connecticut,  as  the  secretary  for  the 
promotion  of  systematic  benevolence.  Mr.  North- 
rop 's  salary  was  supplied  by  a  gentleman  greatly 
interested  in  the  success  of  the  plan,  and  he  en- 
tered upon  the  duties  of  his  office  on  March 
1,  1904.  He  gave  his  time  to  speaking  before 
State  Associations  and  Conferences  and  at  other 
similar  gatherings  at  which  he  could  obtain  a  hear- 
ing. He  continued  his  work  until  the  spring  of 
1906,  when  the  office  was  discontinued  for  lack  of 
funds.  A  little  later,  however,  the  Committee  took 
up  in  a  practical  way  the  matter  of  systematic 
benevolence  and  devised  and  submitted  to  the 
churches  a  plan  of  apportionment  which  had  great 
promise.  The  societies  united  in  supporting  it 
and  for  the  first  time  in  their  history  their  entire 
work  was  presented  to  the  churches  both  as  a 
whole  and  by  the  individual  organizations.  The 
following  resolution,  passed  by  the  officers  of  the 
societies,  indicates  the  spirit  in  which  the  plan 
was  received: 

' '  The  secretaries  of  the  national  benevolent  so- 
cieties, in  conference  assembled,  wish  to  express 
their  very  hearty  appreciation  of  the  recent  state- 
ment of  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the  National 
Council  and  of  the  plan  suggested  by  that  commit- 
tee whereby  all  our  benevolent  work  can  be  con- 
sidered as  a  whole,  and  of  the  amounts  proposed 
which  would  need  to  be  raised  by  each  State  for 
the  several  societies  if  we  are  able  to  secure  the 
two  million  dollars  which  our  benevolent  work  at 
home  and  abroad  imperatively  needs." 

[162] 


MAKING   HISTORY 

It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  this  history  further, 
as  this  sketch  brings  the  matter  down  to  the  pres- 
ent apportionment  plan  adopted  by  the  Congre- 
gational churches  and  to  the  proposals  for  further 
unifying  the  work  that  were  adopted  by  the  Na- 
tional Council  in  Kansas  City  in  1913.  Many  of 
the  leaders  of  Congregationalism  became  more 
radical  in  their  progress  than  Mr.  Capen  had  been 
or  desired  to  be,  but  he,  more  than  any  other  man, 
was  the  father  of  the  plan  which  has  led  to  such 
important  changes  and  which  seems  not  yet  to 
have  reached  the  end  of  its  successful  application 
and  development. 


[163] 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  LAYMEN'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT 

"It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  a  fundamental 
error  in  the  minds  of  the  great  majority,  as  to  the 
supreme  business  of  the  church.  It  is  not  a  reli- 
gious club  for  the  education  and  help  of  the  con- 
gregation, nor  is  it  primarily  for  divine  worship ; 
its  real  purpose  is  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  world. 
Missions  are  not  a  department  of  the  work  of  the 
church ;  they  are  to  be  the  center  of  its  activities. ' ' 

This  significant  utterance  brings  into  marked 
contrast  Mr.  Capen's  high  ideal  of  the  program  of 
the  Church  and  the  actual  condition  which  exists 
in  many  churches.  Only  about  one  man  in  ten  in 
the  membership  of  the  Christian  Church  is  inter- 
ested in  world-wide  missions,  while  the  average 
gift  per  member  is  less  than  one  cent  a  day  for 
missions  at  home  and  abroad.  The  Church,  as  a 
whole,  has  never  taken  the  missionary  enterprise 
seriously. 

In  view  of  this  condition,  Mr.  Capen  had  the 
profound  conviction  that  the  great  need  was  to 
awaken  the  men  of  the  churches.  To  do  this  he 
believed  that  the  first  great  need  was  to  give  them 
an  ideal  worthy  of  their  manhood,  and  he  was 
convinced  that  there  was  no  ideal  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  missionary  purpose.  For  the  task 
of  missions  is  nothing  less  than  to  give  the  knowl- 

[164] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

edge  of  Christ  to  every  man  wherever  he  lives  and 
whatever  his  conditions.  It  brings  the  greatest 
thought  that  can  ever  come  to  us. l '  Such  a  concep- 
tion of  a  man's  obligation  broadens  him  and 
furnishes  the  real  antidote  to  selfishness  and  little- 
ness and  narrowness  which  make  so  many  lives 
petty  and  sordid  and  unworthy. ' ' 

In  order  to  give  this  great  vision,  Mr.  Capen 
felt  that  the  Church  must  be  more  earnest  and 
persistent  in  furnishing  information  to  those  who, 
in  the  rush  of  worldly  things,  have  never  gotten 
the  full  meaning  of  life,  nor  had  any  adequate 
knowledge  of  missionary  work.  "What  men  need 
is  not  more  rhetoric  and  exhortation  but  more  in- 
formation. ' '  And  he  believed  that  one  of  the  best 
ways  to  educate  men  is  to  secure  their  personal 
interest  by  having  them  help  to  plan  the  work 
about  which  they  are  to  be  informed. 

While  these  convictions  were  bearing  heavily 
upon  his  heart  there  came  a  movement  which 
seemed  to  be  an  answer  to  his  prayers.  Mr.  John 
B.  Sleman,  a  young  business  man  of  Washington, 
while  on  his  way  to  attend  the  Student  Volunteer 
Convention  of  1906,  held  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
conceived  the  idea  that  if  the  Christian  business 
men  of  North  America  could  be  given  a  vision  like 
that  of  the  students  and  could  be  led  to  follow  it 
with  their  business  sagacity  and  energy,  the 
slogan,  "The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation,"  might  soon  pass  from  dream  to  reali- 
zation. After  the  convention  Mr.  Sleman,  who 
was  a  Congregationalist,  naturally  laid  the  idea 

[165] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

before  Mr.  Capen,  and  he  received  it  with  enthu- 
siasm. Conferences  were  soon  held  with  other 
men  and,  on  November  the  fifteenth,  1906,  in  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York, 
The  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  came  into 
existence. 

The  purpose  of  the  Movement  as  set  forth  in 
the  simple  charter  of  the  organization  was :  * '  To 
consult  with  the  secretaries  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary boards  with  reference,  first,  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  campaign  of  education  among  laymen  to 
interest  them  more  largely  in  missions ;  second,  to 
the  designing  of  a  comprehensive  plan  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation; 
and  third,  to  have  a  commission  of  fifty  or  more 
business  men  visit  the  several  mission  fields  and 
report  their  findings  to  the  churches." 

When  this  organization  was  formed  there  was 
never  a  question  in  the  mind  of  any  member  as  to 
who  should  lead  the  movement.  As  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Half  ord  has  said : ' '  There  could  have  been 
no  other  chairman  but  Dr.  Capen,  as  there  could 
have  been,  and  would  have  been,  no  successor  to 
him,  unless  God,  Himself,  should  have  decreed  the 
necessity.  Never  was  the  preparation  of  a  man 
for  a  place  of  important  and  unique  responsibility 
more  evidently  of  God.  His  years  of  success  in 
business  life ;  his  sympathetic  and  active  relation- 
ship to  the  highest  movements  of  civic  righteous- 
ness, the  leadership  into  which  he  had  come  not 
through  any  effort  of  his  own,  but  by  the  law  of 
natural  fitness  and  selection  in  the  social,  educa- 

[166] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

tional,  philanthropic,  and  reformatory  movements 
of  his  generation ;  his  thorough  identification  with 
every  phase  of  the  expression  of  the  ideal  Ameri- 
can citizenship,  and  the  humble  conspicuousness 
with  which  he  adorned  the  doctrine  of  God,  his 
Saviour,  as  an  earnest,  practical,  achieving  mem- 
ber of  the  church  of  Christ,  bespoke  him  as  the 
elect  layman  of  this  new  and  important  duty." 

Mr.  Capen  threw  himself  into  this  new  organi- 
zation with  unusual  zeal,  because  he  believed  that 
we  are  living  in  the  age  which  is  pre-eminently  the 
time  of  the  layman's  opportunity.  "The  clergy- 
man is  no  longer  held  in  awe;  he  is  not,  as 
formerly,  the  only  educated  man  in  the  commu- 
nity. Our  common  schools,  the  cheapness  of  books 
and  magazines  have  changed  everything  and  edu- 
cation has  become  universal.  As  a  result,  the  lay- 
man is  in  every  way  far  more  influential.  One 
hundred  years  ago  school  boards  were  made  up, 
so  far  as  possible,  of  clergymen;  today  in  our 
cities  they  are  almost  exclusively  laymen.  I  pre- 
sume it  would  have  been  but  little  short  of  sacri- 
legious to  have  had  anyone  but  a  clergyman  presi- 
dent of  Yale ;  now  it  seems  most  natural  to  have  a 
layman  like  President  Hadley.  Princeton  has  fol- 
lowed in  the  election  of  Woodrow  Wilson.  The 
layman  is  wanted  as  never  before  in  the  work  of 
our  mission  and  philanthropic  societies.  The  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  work  is  exclusively  his.  The  business 
man's  training  is  valuable  in  both  organizations 
and  in  executive  work  the  layman  has  come  to 
his  full  opportunity. ' ' 

[167] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

"We  have  already  seen  how  Mr.  Capen  devoted 
a  large  part  of  his  life  to  an  effort  to  awaken  lay- 
men to  their  responsibilities  and  opportunities  as 
citizens.  In  this  Movement  he  devoted  himself 
with  even  greater  earnestness  to  arousing  the 
laymen  of  America  to  their  obligations  and  privi- 
leges in  that  which  is  the  chief  work  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  seeking  to  make  them  feel  that  they 
were  chosen  of  God  to  carry  forward  his  King- 
dom. One  of  our  popular  story-writers  has 
declared :  * '  There  is  a  whole  lot  of  difference  be- 
tween a  great  man  of  wealth  and  a  man  of  great 
wealth.  Them  last  is  getting  terribly  common." 
It  is  a  fine  distinction  and  men  are  making  it  in 
increasing  numbers.  Many  men  of  wealth  are  be- 
ginning to  realize  that  what  has  been  called  suc- 
cess may  be  fearful  failure,  and  they  are  not  only 
trying  to  apply  Christian  principles  in  the  mak- 
ing of  their  money,  but  are  also  recognizing  that 
their  wealth  is  a  trust  which  they  hold  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  race. 

In  an  address  at  Northfield,  Mr.  Capen  dwelt  at 
length  upon  this  subject :  "  The  man  who  gives  and 
the  man  who  preaches  are  partners  together  in 
Christian  service  and  neither  can  do  the  work 
without  the  other.  Not  far  away  in  the  city  of 
Springfield  there  have  lived  three  men,  George, 
Charles  and  Homer  Merriam,  who  have  consid- 
ered themselves  as  stewards  of  God,  and  who  have 
used  their  great  income  by  large  and  constant 
gifts  for  missionary  work.  They  have  distinctly 
declared  that  they  were  in  business  as  stewards 

[168] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

to  make  money  that  they  might  do  more  for 
others.  They  wanted  to  accumulate  that  they 
might  give,  and  there  are  multitudes  of  men  in 
our  country  who,  because  of  their  business  success 
and  their  wealth,  are  doing  untold  service  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Shall  I  mention  a  man  who  was 
one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Boston  a  few 
years  ago,  the  Honorable  Alpheus  Hardy?  He 
started  in  life  to  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  but 
he  was  compelled  by  ill  health  to  give  up  his  study. 
For  a  time  his  disappointment  was  bitter,  but 
soon  a  great  light  fell  upon  him;  he  saw  that  a 
sacred  calling  was  still  open  to  him  and  with  rap- 
ture he  cried,  '  Oh,  God  I  can  be  Thy  minister !  I 
will  make  money  for  Thee ;  that  shall  by  my  min- 
istry!' Henceforth  he  felt  himself  to  be  God's 
man,  and  as  much  chosen  and  ordained  as  those 
preaching  the  gospel  from  the  pulpit." 

In  a  concise  and  businesslike  address  before  the 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Boards  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  which 
met  in  Philadelphia  on  January  9,  1907,  Mr. 
Capen  set  forth  the  reasons  for  the  existence  of 
this  new  organization. 

"First,  because  of  the  inadequacy  of  present 
plans  and  methods  of  missionary  work.  In  mak- 
ing this  statement,  I  am  not  failing  to  recognize 
the  great  work  that  has  already  been  accom- 
plished. We  have  planted  Christian  churches  and 
schools  and  colleges  and  hospitals  and  printing 
plants,  and  have  transformed  nations.  Neverthe- 
less, it  must  be  acknowledged  that  this  represents 

[169] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  work  of  only  a  small  minority  of  all  church 
members.  We  cannot  have  any  patience  with  a 
man  who  argues  that  we  cannot  do  many  times 
what  we  are  doing  now.  We  have  the  money  in 
our  pockets.  There  is  a  perfect  mine  of  wealth 
in  the  possession  of  the  rich  and  of  those  of  mod- 
erate means,  which  is  as  yet  untouched.  Am  I  not 
right  in  saying,  therefore,  that  we  need  to  supple- 
ment our  present  methods  with  something  else  in 
order  that  we  may  more  speedily  evangelize  the 
nations  $  This  is  the  primary  purpose  of  this  new 
movement. 

"The  second  reason  for  this  new  organization 
is  the  indifference,  in  pews  and  pulpit  alike,  to  our 
foreign  missionary  work.  The  missionary  mes- 
sage, so  far,  has  not  touched  multitudes  of  men  in 
churches,  the  very  ones  the  movement  is  designed 
to  reach.  We  need  something  radically  different 
from  our  present  plans  and  methods,  because 
many  people  do  not  consider  proper  proportion  in 
these  various  gifts.  We  rejoice  in  the  great  bene- 
factions for  secular  education  and  philanthropy  at 
home,  but  the  foreign  missionary  appeal  is  too 
often  forgotten.  There  are  resources  enough  for 
all.  Certainly  the  time  has  fully  come  to  adopt 
some  new  plans  which  shall  give  proper  place  and 
emphasis  to  the  regular  missionary  work  of  our 
churches.  In  our  new  movement  we  want  to  make 
it  clear  to  all  that  missions  are  the  supreme  work 
of  the  Church  and  that  money  given  for  work 
abroad  inevitably  tends  to  help  and  not  hinder 
generous  gifts  at  home.  We  should  recognize  as 

[170] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

never  before  the  world-wide  opportunity.  The 
doors  are  open  all  over  the  world,  and  the  com- 
mercial traveler  has  entered  everywhere.  Our 
business  men  must  have  a  broader  vision  that 
takes  in  the  whole  world.  Our  own  spiritual 
safety  requires  a  more  vigorous  missionary  cam- 
paign. America  must  save  the  world  if  she  would 
save  herself,  and  our  laymen  have  it  in  their 
power  to  turn  the  current  of  thought  in  the 
churches  to  these  higher  things.  We  want  to  save 
men,  and  then  we  shall  have  their  gifts.  We  need 
a  great  addition  to  the  Christian  educational  in- 
stitutions abroad,  in  order  to  train  more  rapidly 
native  teachers.  We  need  more  hospitals  and 
more  printing  and  industrial  plants.  We  want 
what  President  King  of  Oberlin  has  called  'capi- 
talistic statesmen.' 

A  definite  program,  which  did  not  duplicate  the 
work  done  by  any  other  organization,  was  outlined 
for  the  new  Movement.  In  some  respects  the 
work  was  to  be  unique  in  its  methods.  The  Move- 
ment was  headed  by  a  central  committee  of  one 
hundred,  composed  of  representatives  of  various 
denominations,  with  an  executive  committee  of  fif- 
teen. It  was  proposed  to  secure  personal  pledges, 
so  that  men  who  never  before  had  manifested  any 
interest  in  missions  might  come  under  some  posi- 
tive, definite  obligation  which  would  match 
present-day  opportunities  and  be  worthy  of  them- 
selves and  worthy  of  Christ.  While  some  of  the 
work  was  to  be  done  through  organizations  for 
individual  canvassing,  the  leaders  recognized  a  la- 

[171] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

tent  power  in  social  influences.  They  proposed 
that  men  should  meet  in  parlor  and  dining-room 
conferences,  where  they  would  come  into  close 
touch  with  one  another,  and  where  by  questions 
and  answers  they  might  be  led  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  the  great  work. 

The  leaders  of  the  movement  planned  to  secure 
their  money  by  calling  together  small  groups  of 
men  and  presenting  to  them  the  largeness  of 
the  opportunity,  and  by  hand-to-hand  work,  the 
method  employed  for  obtaining  large  gifts  for  col- 
leges and  hospitals  in  this  country.  They  also 
proposed  to  send  out  a  commission  of  business 
and  professional  men,  who  would  visit  at  their 
own  expense  the  various  mission  stations  of  the 
world,  would  see  for  themselves  what  was  being 
done,  and  would  then  report  to  the  home  churches. 
They  believed  that  such  a  body  of  men  would  do 
more  than  could  be  done  in  any  other  way  to  re- 
move the  skepticism  which  exists  concerning  mis- 
sionary work.  " There  is  no  lack  of  money,"  said 
Mr.  Capen,  in  speaking  for  this  movement,  "for 
wherever  there  is  an  appeal  for  humanity,  a  flood 
in  Texas,  a  volcano  eruption  in  the  West  Indies, 
or  an  earthquake  in  San  Francisco,  the  result  is 
always  the  same,  generous  gifts  from  rich  and 
poor  alike.  If  we  can  only  make  good  with  our 
churches  at  home,  there  will  be  money  enough 
to  properly  support  our  missionary  work."  It 
was  with  this  faith  that  these  consecrated  laymen, 
led  by  Mr.  Capen,  launched  out  in  the  enterprise 
of  securing  princely  gifts  for  this  work. 

[172] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

The  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  made  its 
chief  appeal  to  men  who  were  accustomed  to  see 
things  in  the  large.  It  never  failed  to  present  the 
missionary  problem  so  that  it  looked  to  men  like  a 
"man's  job,"  a  call  to  finance  the  work  on  a  scale 
of  $1,000,000,000.  It  was  this  point  of  view  that 
reached  hundreds  of  men  who  had  hitherto  looked 
upon  missions  as  a  task  for  women.  Mr.  Capen's 
addresses  were  full  of  illustrations  showing  the 
strength  of  the  masculine  appeal.  Let  me  give 
but  one. 

1 1  One  of  our  secretaries  tried  to  reach  recently 
one  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  city,  but  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  get  by  his  private  secretary. 
He  then  tried  him  on  the  telephone  and  succeeded 
in  reaching  him  in  that  way.  He  asked  for  an  in- 
terview, and  the  man  declined.  He  said,  'I  will 
ask  you  for  only  three  minutes.'  The  man  re- 
plied, i  I  am  too  busy  to  give  you  even  that ' ;  and 
the  secretary  replied,  'I  am  busy  also.'  The  man 
then  asked,  'What  do  you  want?'  The  answer 
came,  'I  want  to  see  you  about  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement  and  the  conquest  of  the 
world.'  The  man  replied,  'Come  along,  I  have 
time  enough  for  that.'  In  another  of  our  cities, 
one  of  our  former  mayors  and  also  a  judge  of  the 
United  States  Court  were  willing  to  make  a  per- 
sonal canvass  for  missions.  The  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Claims,  a  Cleveland  man,  was  chairman 
of  the  committee  of  arrangements  and  closed  his 
court  for  two  days  in  order  to  take  a  message  in 
the  name  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement 

[173] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

to  the  City  of  Richmond.  I  believe  that  it  can 
truthfully  be  said  that  there  was  never  a  move- 
ment that  has  discovered  the  leading  men  of  the 
churches  as  this  Laymen's  Movement  has  already 
done.  It  is  bringing  the  laymen  to  have  a  larger 
share  in  Christian  work,  for  when  they  have  be- 
come interested  in  foreign  missions  they  become 
interested  in  other  forms  of  church  work.  It  is 
bringing  their  business  and  professional  training 
to  use,  as  well  as  leading  them  to  make  larger 
gifts." 

During  the  first  two  years  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  great 
progress  was  reported  in  many  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. In  eighteen  cities  in  the  South  and  West,  and 
upon  the  Pacific  Coast,  men  met  together  and 
voted  to  increase  their  foreign  missionary  gifts. 
In  Canada  a  similar  campaign  was  waged  in  seven 
cities,  and  as  a  result  of  it  many  givers  voted  to 
treble  their  missionary  offerings.  In  these  Cana- 
dian cities  the  gifts  included  home  as  well  as  for- 
eign missions,  as  most  of  the  denominations  there 
have  but  one  society  instead  of  several.  In  each 
of  at  least  four  cities  in  the  United  States,  one 
denomination  gave  more  than  all  the  churches  of 
the  city  together  had  given  the  previous  year.  In 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  the  churches  voted  to  in- 
crease their  gifts  from  $12,000  to  $50,000.  In  the 
city  of  Atlanta  one  church  that  gave  $1,875  in  a 
previous  year  secured  pledges  for  $8,000.  A  con- 
gregation in  St.  Louis  that  gave  $500  one  year,  by 
personal  work  on  the  part  of  the  men  raisecl  their 

[174] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

offering  to  $2,000.  In  a  year  of  business  de- 
pression the  Southern  Presbyterians  increased 
their  foreign  mission  offerings  from  $276,000  to 
$323,000. 

But  these  gifts  were  the  smallest  part  of  the 
benefit  secured  from  The  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement.  Its  campaigns  inspired  churches  to 
organize  their  men  for  better  service  in  years  to 
come.  One  of  the  first  to  organize  was  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  South,  which  adopted  as  its 
motto,  "All  at  it  and  always  at  it,  and  a  million 
annually  for  missions."  They  placed  a  strong 
representative  in  each  of  their  eighty-three  pres- 
byteries, with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to 
secure  in  every  congregation  in  his  division  one 
strong  layman  who  would  act  as  a  leader  of  the 
men's  missionary  activity  in  his  own  church. 

While  this  movement  was  leading  strong  men  to 
give  larger  service  to  churches,  it  led  them  also 
into  a  life  of  more  frequent  and  earnest  prayer. 
1 l  Men  are  becoming  more  and  more  conscious  that 
it  is  the  most  real  and  the  most  reasonable  thing  in 
the  world  for  men  to  talk  with  God.  The  organiza- 
tion for  foreign  missions  in  this  country  started 
from  a  prayer  meeting  at  Williamstown.  This 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  in  its  turn,  one 
hundred  years  later,  was  born  in  a  prayer  meeting 
in  New  York.  All  the  meetings  of  the  movement 
since,  have  been  in  the  spirit  of  prayer.  It  has 
developed  the  prayer  life  in  multitudes  of  men. 
They  are  no  longer  saying  prayers  but  praying. 
I  was  very  much  touched  two  years  ago  at  Chat- 

[175] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

tanooga,  when  I  spoke  before  one  thousand  men 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  that  in  a  letter  it 
was  stated  that  '  twenty  thousand  of  the  people 
are  praying  for  you. '  Many  difficulties  have  come 
to  us,  but  in  the  most  marvelous  way  they  have 
been  removed  in  answer  to  our  prayers. ' ' 

Possibly  the  most  important  work  that  The 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  accomplished 
was  that  done  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  There 
was  a  vigorous  campaign  in  all  the  principal 
cities,  from  Halifax  to  Vancouver,  which  resulted 
in  a  Canadian  National  Congress  of  The  Move- 
ment at  Toronto,  March  31  to  April  4,  1909.  Over 
twenty-five  hundred  laymen  were  registered  as 
commissioners,  and  fifteen  hundred  ministers  at- 
tended. It  is  probably  true  that  never  before 
in  modern  history  have  so  many  representative 
men  of  the  Christian  Church  come  together  in  the 
interest  of  world-wide  missions.  This  Congress 
adopted  a  national  missionary  policy,  embodied 
in  these  resolutions :  "We  recognize  the  clear  duty 
of  the  churches  of  Canada  to  evangelize  all  those  in 
the  Dominion,  all  who  come  to  our  shores,  who  have 
not  been  led  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  also  to 
provide  for  the  adequate  preaching  of  the  gospel 
to  40,000,000  souls  in  the  non-Christian  world. 

"We  accept  the  estimates  of  our  missionary 
leaders,  that  at  least  $1,300,000  annually  should  be 
contributed  to  our  home  missionary  work,  and  $3,- 
200,000  annually  by  the  churches  represented  in 
this  Congress  aggregating  a  communicant  mem- 
bership of  900,000." 

[176] 


THE   LAYMEN'S   MOVEMENT 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  organ- 
ized a  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  and  had 
eleven  hundred  delegates  at  its  first  convention 
at  Chattanooga,  where  it  fixed  as  its  goal  $3,000,- 

000  annually.   The  South  Baptist  Church  also  or- 
ganized its  laymen  and  proposed  to  increase  its 
missionary  offerings  to  half  a  million.    The  Inter- 
synodical  Foreign  Missionary  Convention  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  North,  held  a  meeting  at 
Omaha  and  a  second  one  in  Philadelphia.    Both  of 
them  voted  to  recommend  to  their  churches  to 
raise,  on  an  average,  five  dollars  per  member  for 
foreign  missions. 

Thus  a  mighty  power  in  reshaping  the  lives  and 
policies  of  men  came  into  existence.  Mr.  Capen 
believed  that  this  Movement  among  the  laymen  of 
America  would  furnish  the  moral  equivalent  for 
war.  "  Foreign  missions  give  us  that  equivalent 
in  their  spirit  of  conquest,  and  in  the  courage  and 
sacrifices  they  call  forth.  We  work  to  mobilize 
the  men  of  today  for  the  last  great  struggle.  We 
believe  that  they  are  going  to  swing  into  line  with 
such  reserves  of  money  as  was  not  dreamed  of  a 
few  years  ago.  Our  times  are  full  of  'big  things.' 

1  like  the  word  'big'  rather  than  'large';  it  is  a 
much  stronger  word.    We  see  how  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  can  tunnel  the  Hudson  River  and 
have  great  terminal  facilities  in  New  York  at 
an  expense  of  fifty  or  one  hundred  million  dollars. 
Similar  enterprises  are  going  on  all  about  us.  We 
are  coming  to  a  better  time  in  missions.    The  day 
of  formal  praying  and  petty  giving  is  about  over. 

[177] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

The  day  of  great  consecration  and  self-sacrifice 
is  at  hand." 

In  The  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  all  dif- 
ferences of  creed  were  forgotten  and  men  united 
in  a  common  work.  ' '  Men  are  beginning  to  realize 
as  never  before  the  solidarity  of  the  race,  that  our 
world  is  our  home,  that  we  are  children  of  one 
father,  that  the  barriers  are  now  down,  and  that 
it  is  possible  to  reach  all  our  father's  children 
throughout  the  whole  world  very  quickly.  It  has 
been  well  said,  'The  nineteenth  century  made  the 
world  a  neighborhood.'  The  twentieth  century 
must  make  it  a  brotherhood. ' ' 


[178] 


CHAPTER  XII 


At  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  Capen  was  Presi- 
dent of  The  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions,  President  of  The  Massachu- 
setts Peace  Society,  Director  of  The  World  Peace 
Foundation,  Director  of  The  Charlesbank  Homes, 
Vice-president  of  The  American  Bible  Society, 
Chairman  of  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  Wellesley 
College,  Trustee  of  The  United  Society  of  Chris- 
tian Endeavor,  Chairman  of  The  Finance  Com- 
mittee of  The  United  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor  for  the  erection  of  its  new  building, 
Director  of  The  Boston  City  Missionary  Society, 
Vice-president  of  The  Congregational  Sunday 
School  and  Publishing  Society,  Chairman  of  The 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  Director  of  The 
North  American  Civic  League  for  Immigrants, 
member  of  The  Boston  Indian  Citizenship  Com- 
mittee, member  of  The  Committee  on  Municipal 
Affairs  of  The  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Vice-president  of  the  American  Congregational 
Association  and  Vice-president  of  The  Con- 
sumers' League  of  Massachusetts. 

Even  this  list  of  varied  offices,  appalling  as  it 
seems  when  measured  by  the  energy  of  the  aver- 
age man  of  today,  does  not  represent  all  the  serv- 

[179] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ice  that  this  consecrated  Christian  was  giving  to 
the  world.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  to  the 
last  of  his  life  Mr.  Capen  was  a  business  man. 
While  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  firm  of  Torrey, 
Bright  and  Capen  in  1909  and  retired  from  the 
confining  work  of  the  carpet  industry  he  was 
engaged  in  active  business  enterprises  until  the 
end,  especially  carrying  the  heavy  responsibility 
of  several  large  estates  for  which  he  was  trustee. 
There  were,  however,  certain  activities  to  which 
he  gave  so  much  of  his  time  that  an  account  of 
his  life  would  be  incomplete  if  it  did  not  make 
brief  mention  of  them. 

A  large  part  of  Mr.  Capen 's  life  was  associated 
with  the  cause  of  education.  Though  his  book 
training  did  not  extend  beyond  the  high  school, 
he  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
by  Dartmouth  College  and  received  the  title  ' '  Doc- 
tor of  Laws"  from  Oberlin  and  Middlebury.  He 
gave  much  of  his  energy  to  the  Boston  schools, 
to  the  colleges  connected  with  his  denomination 
and  to  Wellesley.  A  Wellesley  trustee,  Mrs. 
Frank  Mason  North,  has  given  such  an  excellent 
account  of  his  connection  with  this  institution 
that  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  embody  it  in 
this  biography. 

"Forty  years  ago,"  she  writes,  " beneath  the 
oaks  of  Wellesley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Durant  placed 
the  foundation  stone  of  the  College,  upon  which 
was  written,  'This  building  is  humbly  dedicated 
to  our  Heavenly  Father,  with  the  hope  and  prayer 
that  He  may  always  be  first  in  everything  in  this 

[180] 


A  WELLESLEY   TRUSTEE 

institution;  that  His  Word  may  be  faithfully 
taught  here;  and  that  He  will  use  it  as  a  means 
of  leading  precious  souls  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.'  With  a  College  thus  'founded  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,'  and  enshrining  within  it  both  the  love  of 
learning  and  the  joy  of  serving,  Dr.  Capen  must 
always  have  been  in  sympathy.  To  it  he  entrusted 
his  only  daughter,  and  when  in  1900  the  College 
sought  the  aid  of  his  counsels  he  became  an  hon- 
ored Trustee.  The  pre-eminence  of  which  he 
was  ever  unconscious  was  at  once  evident  to  his 
colleagues  and  in  1905  he  was  chosen  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  No  office  was  to  him  a 
sinecure;  no  title  was  merely  honorary.  Every 
opportunity  of  helpfulness  he  'filled  up  to  the 
brim.'  He  became  the  Chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  which  is  constantly  at  its  task, 
and  a  member  of  the  Finance  Committee,  upon 
which  large  responsibilities  must  always  rest. 
Whenever  special  needs  called  for  special  serv- 
ice, the  finding  of  a  new  President  of  the  College, 
the  raising  of  a  million  dollars,  he  quietly,  gen- 
erously, cheerfully  carried  a  large  share  of  the 
burden. 

"In  the  last  half  century  the  type  of  college 
trustee  has  greatly  altered.  Formerly  the  clergy- 
men, eloquent  and  learned,  were  the  typical  ad- 
ministrators, now  the  business  man,  alert,  practi- 
cal, swift  in  judgment,  wealth-commanding,  is 
sought  for  the  large  office.  In  President  Capen 
there  was  a  remarkable  blending  of  both  types, 

[181] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

so  that  he  was  the  ideal  Trustee  of  a  great  college. 
His  fervent  prayers  were  a  benediction  upon 
young  hearts,  as  each  class  paused  at  college 
altars  for  a  farewell  service  before  going  forth 
into  the  wide  world.  His  eloquent  addresses  en- 
kindled the  enthusiasm  of  the  Alumnae,  with  whom 
on  festal  days  he  was  an  eagerly-welcomed  guest. 
When  the  call  came  for  generous  giving,  his  was 
the  first  response.  Without  losing  sight  of  the 
great  aims  of  the  college,  he  devoted  time  and 
thought  unreservedly  to  business  details  and  prob- 
lems, mastering  them  easily,  'without  haste  and 
without  rest.'  That  beautiful  courtesy  which  is 
the  very  flower  of  Christian  character,  the  out- 
ward and  visible  sign  of  the  graces  of  Christ  with- 
in, made  fellowship  with  him,  even  in  the  most 
laborious  hours,  a  delight.  Upon  his  wise,  well- 
balanced  judgment  the  President  of  the  college 
and  every  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  re- 
lied. In  his  quietness  and  confidence  they  found 
strength.  Being  'very  sure  of  God,'  he  was  un- 
burdened and  unafraid.  Because  'he  knew  and 
pursued  daily  the  individual  road  that  leads  into 
the  presence  of  God, '  he  brought  to  his  tasks  cour- 
age, buoyancy,  enthusiasm,  efficiency,  and  that 
wisdom  which  is  pure,  peaceable,  gentle,  full  of 
mercy  and  of  good  fruits. 

"It  is  significant  of  the  dominant  traits  in  his 
own  character  to  discover  what  Dr.  Capen  pre- 
eminently valued  in  the  ideals  of  the  college.  In 
a  letter  to  a  friend  last  year,  he  said :  '  I  am  sure 
that  you  know  something  of  the  value  of  Welles- 

[182] 


A   WELLESLEY   TRUSTEE 

ley  College,  the  number  of  whose  students  has 
doubled  since  I  became  a  Trustee  twelve  years 
ago,  and  it  now  numbers  over  fourteen  hundred. 
It  was  founded  by  Mr.  Durant  as  a  great  Christian 
college,  with  this  text  as  its  motto:  "Not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister."  The  college, 
I  believe,  is  keeping  true  to  that  purpose.  While 
the  intellectual  equipment  is  of  the  very  best,  the 
real  "Wellesley  spirit,  to  live  for  others,  is  never 
lost  sight  of.  One  of  the  very  interesting  things 
to  me  in  the  life  of  the  college  is  that  wealth  and 
social  position  do  not  count  against  fitness  when 
the  students  have  their  own  officers  to  elect.  I  am, 
also,  glad  to  write  that  the  missionary  spirit  is 
strong  in  the  college.  Wellesley  women  are  in  all 
the  world,  so  that  we  can  feel  sure  that  the  sun 
never  sets  on  our  work.' 

"Dr.  Capen  took  delight  in  the  beauty  of 
Wellesley  lakes  and  lawn  and  woodland,  and  in 
the  effervescing  life  of  the  thronging  girls, 
'crowned  with  youth's  white  crown  of  aspiration' : 
he  cherished  the  material  prosperity  of  the  col- 
lege and  sought  its  increase;  he  counted  precious 
that  scholarship  which  is  deep,  sincere,  reverent, 
modest,  serviceable,  the  love  of  truth  in  nature, 
in  history,  in  arts,  in  literature,  and  in  the  soul 
of  man.  But  to  him,  as  to  the  Founder  of  the  col- 
lege, the  new  higher  education  never  meant  sim- 
ply the  opening  of  doors  of  profound  learning  to 
women;  it  was  a  summons  to  a  larger  service  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  These  words  of  the  Founder 
might  well  express  his  thought:  'The  Shekinah 

[183] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

light  must  shine  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  the 
light-carriers  must  be  Christian  women.  I  could 
see  the  college  in  ashes,  but  I  could  not  bear  to 
have  it  send  out  only  intellectual  women,  without 
the  radiance  and  the  vitalizing  power  of  the  spirit 
of  Christ.'  The  last  message  of  the  Founder 
might  have  been  his  also : '  Christ  first  in  all  things 
and  always.' 

After  Mr.  Capen's  death  The  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  Wellesley  College  passed  resolutions  which 
not  only  embodied  their  appreciation  of  his 
excellent  service,  but  which  also  placed  strong 
emphasis  on  certain  dominant  traits  of  his 
life. 

"Mr.  Capen  brought  to  the  service  of  the  Col- 
lege all  that  made  him  prominent  and  useful  in 
church  and  state,  devotion  to  the  cause  which  he 
served,  enthusiasm  in  his  work,  mature  judgment, 
and  large  experience.  He  was  regular  in  his  at- 
tendance at  meetings  of  the  Board  and  its  various 
committees  and  informed  himself  carefully  of  the 
many  matters  brought  before  them.  With  no  self- 
ish motive  and  with  rare  tact,  he  contributed 
largely  to  the  solution  of  all  questions  under  con- 
sideration. Not  the  least  important  of  his  service 
was  his  work  on  the  sub-committees,  to  which 
were  referred  many  important,  and  at  times,  deli- 
cate matters  of  administrative  policy,  of  law,  of 
ethics,  and  mental  problems,  which  cannot  be 
treated  in  the  infrequent  gatherings  of  the  Board, 
or  in  the  limited  time  given  by  the  standing 
committees.  As  a  presiding  officer,  he  was  firm, 

[184] 


A  WELLESLEY   TEUSTEE 

courteous,  influential;  at  public  functions  he  rep- 
resented the  college  with  dignity  and  impres- 
sively. The  regard  and,  indeed,  affection  Mr. 
Capen  commanded  from  all  his  associates  was 
due  to  his  personality,  and  this  he  carried  into  his 
relations  with  the  faculty  and  students;  to  them 
he  was  a  sympathetic  friend,  as  well  as  a  sound 
adviser.  Mr.  Capen  carried  his  duties  to  Welles- 
ley  upon  his  conscience,  and  we  know  that  many 
of  its  problems  he  took  into  his  closet  and  made 
them  the  subject  of  prayer.  His  own  judgment 
did  not  suffice  for  him ;  he  sought  Divine  guidance. 
His  Christian  character,  unobtrusive  and  imper- 
sonal, created  an  atmosphere  in  which  he  moved 
and  worked." 

While  Mr.  Capen  gave  much  of  his  energy  to 
general  education,  it  was  the  Christian  college  in 
which  his  interest  centered.  He  looked  to  those 
institutions  where  Christianity  is  exalted  as  the 
hope  of  our  country.  He  saw  that  they  supply 
the  majority  of  the  recruits  for  the  mission  fields, 
that  from  them  came  very  largely  the  young  min- 
isters and  those  men  and  women  who  are  ready 
to  sacrifice  and  suffer  for  the  redemption  of  the 
race.  With  his  keen  practical  sense,  he  observed 
that  they  send  out  students  who  have,  in  addition 
to  trained  minds  and  much  information,  hearts 
full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  who  possess  the  spirit  of  which  mar- 
tyrs and  crusaders  are  made. 

"The  safety  of  the  Republic  not  only  depends 
upon  its  intelligence,  but  it  is  vitally  important 

[185] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

that  the  basis  of  that  intelligence  shall  be  reli- 
gious. Education  without  Christianty  has  left  out 
its  chief  factor,  and  the  source  of  the  greatest 
power.  You  may  take  a  block  of  marble  and  chisel 
it  ever  so  skilfully  into  some  matchless  human 
form,  but  it  is  marble  still,  cold  and  lifeless.  So  it 
is  with  education  without  religion;  that  which 
gives  the  life  and  power  and  meaning  is  wanting. 
We  need  more  men  like  Senator  Hoar,  with  reli- 
gious convictions  to  lead  the  people  in  civic  mat- 
ters. While  men  think  and  act  for  themselves, 
perhaps  as  never  before,  yet  it  is  equally  true  that 
people  are  more  and  more  being  guided  by  leaders 
in  whom  they  have  confided.  While  it  is  not  so 
blind  a  leadership  as  in  the  early  centuries,  or  in 
other  lands,  yet  in  its  intelligence  it  is  just  as  real. 
The  Christian  college  is  needed  to  train  such  men 
in  righteousness.  If  you  want  to  sustain  missions 
then  sustain  the  Christian  college  of  the  newer 
States,  for  they  furnish  the  missionaries.  From 
what  other  sources  are  men  to  be  obtained  who 
will  most  intelligently  carry  the  gospel  into  the 
hundreds  of  places  west  of  the  Missouri  River, 
where  no  gospel  is  preached?  If  you  want  Chris- 
tian teachers,  then  support  the  Christian  colleges, 
for  they  must  furnish  the  teachers  for  the  new 
States.  Where  shall  we  obtain  men  for  our  theo- 
logical seminaries  unless  we  obtain  them  from  our 
Christian  colleges  1  Statistics  show  that  our  State 
colleges  and  universities  furnish  comparatively 
few  men  for  the  theological  seminary.  Figures 
obtained  a  few  years  ago  show  that  the  Christian 

[186] 


A   WELLESLEY   TRUSTEE 

colleges  furnish  ninety-three  per  cent  of  these 
theological  students,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  there  has  been  any  material  change.  No 
Christian  civilization  can  exist  permanently  with- 
out a  thoroughly  educated  and  Godly  ministry, 
and  such  a  ministry  cannot  be  perpetuated  with- 
out the  Christian  college." 

It  was  this  conviction  which  led  him  not  only  to 
give  much  of  his  energy  to  Wellesley  and  Chris- 
tian colleges  in  the  "West,  but  also  to  assume,  in 
1901,  the  presidency  of  the  Corporation  of  the  In- 
ternational Institute  for  Girls  in  Spain.  Mrs. 
Alice  Freeman  Palmer  had  been  the  President 
of  the  Corporation  but  owing  to  the  condition  of 
her  health  and  because  of  her  many  responsibili- 
ties she  had  been  compelled  to  resign  the  office. 
She  persuaded  Mr.  Capen  to  take  her  place  and 
for  several  years  he  entered  heartily  into  the  work 
of  this  institution  which,  under  the  leadership  of 
Mrs.  Alice  Gordon  Gulick,  was  doing  for  the 
young  women  of  Spain  what  Mt.  Holyoke  and 
Wellesley  were  accomplishing  for  the  women  of 
America.  He  was  especially  active  in  raising 
money  for  new  buildings  the  Institute  needed  and 
showed  wisdom  and  tact  in  guiding  the  Corpora- 
tion through  a  time  of  trying  experiences. 

One  of  the  most  significant  organizations  de- 
veloped among  men  of  the  modern  city  has  been 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  Mr.  George  S.  Smith 
of  the  Boston  Chamber  has  truly  said:  "It  is  only 
a  few  years  ago  that  a  man  would  have  been  called 
an  impractical  idealist  to  confess  himself  a  be- 

[187] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

liever  in  a  city  plan.  Today  the  most  practical 
business  men  believe  in  it.  The  men  of  a  few 
decades  ago  were  called  idealists  if  they  discussed 
housing  conditions  from  an  economic  standpoint. 
Today  the  majority  of  business  men  are  recogniz- 
ing that  it  is  fundamental.  So  I  could  go  on  citing 
to  you  thousands  of  men  in  this  city,  and  their 
prototypes  found  in  every  city,  who  in  the  last 
few  years  have  come  out  of  themselves  and  have 
broadened  their  sympathies  and  are  interested  in 
the  weal  of  society  in  general."  In  other  words, 
the  social  conscience  has  been  awakened,  so  that 
business  men  by  thousands  are  today  trying  to 
accomplish  through  Chambers  of  Commerce  what 
Mr.  Capen  and  his  fellow  workers  were  endeavor- 
ing to  bring  about  through  civic  leagues  and  kin- 
dred organizations  a  decade  or  more  ago.  These 
Chambers  are  more  than  mere  business  organiza- 
tions developed  with  the  object  of  increasing  the 
material  production  of  cities ;  they  are  moral  and 
social  forces  working  for  the  uplift  of  the  entire 
municipal  life. 

It  was  this  broadened  purpose  which  led  Mr. 
Capen,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  to  devote 
much  of  his  time  to  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. He  was  a  member  of  one  of  its  most  im- 
portant committees,  that  on  Municipal  Affairs, 
and  gave  freely  of  his  time  and  energy  to  guiding 
and  creating  legislation  that  related  to  Boston; 
and  he  devoted  hours  to  matters  of  civic  improve- 
ment. Probably  one  of  the  most  important  pieces 
of  work  he  did  for  the  Chamber  was  to  act  as 

[188] 


A  WELLESLEY   TRUSTEE 

chairman  of  the  committee  which  arranged  for 
the  important  meeting  of  the  International 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  met  in  Boston  in 
1912.  This  gathering  of  the  leading  business  men 
of  all  nations  was  one  of  the  most  influential  con- 
ventions that  ever  was  held  in  Boston.  Its  resolu- 
tions were  the  most  far-reaching  that  had  ever 
come  from  any  similar  gathering,  not  only  on 
purely  financial  matters,  but  also  on  the  question 
of  world  peace. 

In  the  last  year  of  his  life,  Mr.  Capen  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  work  of  The  North  Amer- 
ican Civic  League  for  Immigrants.  During  the 
past  generation  we  have  received  into  this  coun- 
try sixteen  million  persons,  or  more  than  five 
times  as  many  as  lived  in  the  original  thirteen 
colonies  when  we  secured  our  liberty  from  Great 
Britain.  Most  of  these  people  have  come  to  us 
not  only  ignorant  of  our  language,  but  also  un- 
trained in  our  traditions  and  ideals.  Many  of 
them  have  suffered  so  keenly  from  oppression 
that  they  regard  all  government  as  evil  and  the 
representatives  of  all  law  as  enemies.  A  majority 
of  them,  however,  come  with  the  best  intentions, 
desiring  to  improve  their  own  conditions  and 
those  of  their  families.  But  Mr.  Capen  saw  that 
if  they  are  to  do  this  they  must  be  welcomed  by 
those  who  can  guide  them  aright.  In  their  ig- 
norance they  are  often  a  prey  to  the  vicious  and 
the  selfish,  but,  if  met  at  the  start  with  a  kindly 
and  brotherly  spirit  they  will  become  loyal,  self- 
respecting,  helpful  citizens.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 

[189] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

they  are  neglected,  they  will  become  a  menace  and 
a  source  of  peril. 

The  North  American  Civic  League  for  Immi- 
grants was  organized  with  the  purpose  of  inform- 
ing the  incoming  multitude  of  the  requirements 
of  American  citizenship  and  of  protecting  them 
from  the  designs  of  the  unscrupulous.  It  pro- 
posed to  do  this  by  having  the  immigrants  taught 
the  English  language  and  by  forming  schools 
where  they  could  be  instructed  in  the  fundamen- 
tals of  good  citizenship,  becoming  acquainted  with 
our  history  and  learning  the  ideals  of  our  national 
life.  Pamphlets  were  printed  in  four  languages 
and  in  one  year  one  hundred  thousand  persons 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered. 

It  was  just  the  type  of  work  to  which  Mr.  Capen 
could  gladly  give  his  energy  and  wisdom.  It 
seemed  to  him  an  opportunity  to  bring  the  King- 
dom upon  the  earth.  In  writing  on  the  subject  he 
said:  "What  greater  honor  could  come  to  any 
people  than  to  continue  to  become  the  hope  of  the 
oppressed?  The  story  of  the  great  Republic  is 
known  in  all  the  world.  The  people  of  the  old 
world  love  this  nation  and  that  for  which  she 
stands.  Those  who  come  here  are  friendly,  prej- 
udiced in  our  favor.  In  our  Civil  War  men  born 
under  another  flag  were  loyal  soldiers  and  gave 
their  lives  freely  that  the  Republic  might  live. 
Such  foreign-born  men  will  continue  to  be  loyal 
and  true,  if  we  meet  them  as  we  should  with  a 
hand  of  welcome,  throw  about  them  protection 
from  wrong,  educate  them  in  our  language,  our 

[190] 


A   WELLESLEY   TRUSTEE 

hopes  and  our  purposes,  and  lead  them  to  an  in- 
telligent citizenship.  With  our  wide-open  doors 
there  is  an  awful  peril,  if  we  are  careless  and  in- 
different; if,  however,  we  are  true  and  faithful 
there  is  an  opportunity  for  service  to  other  na- 
tions such  as  has  never  before  been  accorded  to 
any  people.  This  new  movement  makes  a  univer- 
sal appeal.  Most  organizations  represent  some 
one  party,  or  creed,  or  sect,  or  section ;  this  organ- 
ization appeals  to  men  of  all  parties  and  creeds 
and  nationalities." 

It  was  a  movement  that  appealed  to  Mr.  Capen 
from  the  side  of  economy.  He  believed  that  the 
ignorant  laborer,  especially  if  embittered  against 
the  law  or  against  capital  or  society,  is  not  as  val- 
uable a  helper  as  the  man  who  is  an  intelligent 
citizen. 

The  work  appealed  to  him  also  from  the  side  of 
patriotism.  "  Every  man  who  loves  America,  and 
that  for  which  she  stands,  must  be  an  enthusiastic 
believer  in  this  movement.  To  take  these  men  who 
are  coming  to  our  shores  in  such  large  numbers 
and  make  them  and  their  households  over  into 
self-respecting  American  citizens  is  a  mighty 
work.  The  destiny  of  the  nation  for  weal  or  woe 
depends  largely  upon  our  fidelity  to  this  trust. 
We  must  either  lift  them  up,  or  they  will  drag  us 
down. ' ' 

Again,  the  movement  appealed  to  him  from  the 
side  of  humanity.  He  believed  in  it  because  it  was 
trying  to  lift  men  higher  and  give  them  a  better 
chance  in  life.  "It  is  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 

[191] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

of  our  day.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  eight- 
eenth century  stood  for  toleration,  the  nineteenth 
century  for  competition,  the  twentieth  century  for 
brotherhood.  There  is  a  great  world  conscience  at 
work,  and  we  no  longer  hear  the  old  cry  which 
sounded  through  the  centuries,  'Am  I  my 
brother's  keeper?'  but  a  new  message  in  positive 
form,  'I  am  my  brother's  keeper.'  " 

When  the  League  was  young  and  unknown  it  had 
to  struggle  for  a  hearing.  Men  were  indifferent 
to  its  appeals  and  gave  neither  time  nor  money  to 
its  work.  It  was  then  that  the  Hon.  D.  Chauncey 
Brewer  enlisted  the  active  sympathy  of  Mr.  Capen 
in  the  organization.  He  became  one  of  its  directors 
and  devoted  much  time  and  energy  to  securing 
money  for  its  work  and  to  presenting  its  claim 
before  The  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  be- 
fore strong  men  in  the  churches. 


[192] 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  JOURNEY  ABROAD 

For  years  it  had  been  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Capen 
to  see  missionary  work  in  actual  operation,  but,  as 
he  frequently  stated,  he  did  not  wish  to  do  this 
until  after  he  had  "learned  the  home  end  of  it." 
In  the  spring  of  1913,  when  it  was  being  planned 
that  a  commission  should  attend  the  Centenary 
Celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  first  American 
mission  in  Asia,  it  seemed  to  him,  as  it  did  to  all, 
that  the  time  had  come  for  his  visit.  He  and  two 
others  were  chosen  as  the  commission  by  the  Pru- 
dential Committee  of  the  American  Board  and 
great  satisfaction  at  his  appointment  was  ex- 
pressed in  many  letters  from  the  nearer  and  far- 
ther East.  It  was  decided  that  the  party  should 
proceed  through  Turkey,  Egypt,  India,  Ceylon, 
China,  Korea,  Japan,  returning  home  by  way  of 
the  Pacific.  Details  for  the  entire  journey  were  so 
carefully  worked  out  that  the  arrival  of  the  party 
in  Shanghai,  China,  nearly  five  months  after  the 
start  from  Boston,  fell  upon  the  date  originally 
scheduled.  This  is  a  commentary  upon  Mr. 
Capen 's  habit  of  punctilious  promptness. 

He  went  also  as  the  representative  of  The  Mas- 
sachusetts Peace  Society  and  The  World  Peace 
Foundation.  Mr.  Ginn  contributed  a  generous 

[193] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

check  to  make  this  possible  and  it  was  arranged 
that,  especially  in  China  and  Japan,  Mr.  Capen 
should  speak  before  representative  bodies  of  busi- 
ness men. 

On  September  6,  1913,  Mr.  Capen,  accompanied 
by  Mrs.  Capen,  Miss  Mary  Capen  and  other 
friends,  sailed  from  Boston.  The  trip  was  made 
by  way  of  Italy,  where  he  visited  in  Pompeii  and 
Rome,  studying  the  monuments  of  the  decayed 
civilizations,  of  which  he  wrote  at  length  to  his 
Bible  Class. 

But  he  was  more  interested  in  studying  the 
Italy  of  today.  He  wrote : ' '  I  am  glad  for  this  op- 
portunity to  see  a  little  of  the  new  Italy.  The 
Italians  are  very  proud  of  their  nation,  especially 
of  the  last  fifty  years  of  its  history,  since  Garibaldi 
set  them  free.  Seventy-five  to  eighty-five  per 
cent  of  the  men  of  Italy  are  lost  to  the  old  church. 
I  am  told  there  are  three  reasons  for  this.  (1) 
The  men  are  full  of  enthusiam  for  their  nation 
and  they  feel  that  they  cannot  be  patriots  and 
Catholics.  They  have  chosen,  therefore,  to  be  pa- 
triots. (2)  The  Catholic  religion  of  Italy  is  reac- 
tionary and  faces  to  the  past.  The  leaders  do 
not  care  to  let  in  the  light.  New  Italy  on  the  other 
hand  is  progressive  and  is  facing  the  future.  (3) 
They  hate  the  heads  of  the  church  because  they 
are  a  political  machine  and  they  are  weary  of  its 
intrigue.  Northern  Italy  is  much  more  progres- 
sive than  Southern  Italy;  the  people  are  better 
educated  and  more  intelligent.  In  the  south,  the 
church  has  its  strongest  hold.  The  Mayor  of 

[194] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABROAD 

Rome  is  a  Hebrew  and  he  is  outspoken  against  the 
papal  authorities.  What  Italy  needs,  it  seems  to 
me,  is  a  new  Martin  Luther  with  the  gifts  of 
leadership  and  the  people  are  ready  to  follow  him. 
They  are  a  wonderful  people  with  a  great  history. 
Some  day,  and  not  a  very  distant  one,  I  believe, 
they  will  be  redeemed  from  their  ignorance  and 
superstition  and  come  into  the  larger  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God.  They  have  thrown  away  their 
old  religion.  It  is  to  be  Christianity  or  Atheism. ' ' 

Owing  to  a  plague  of  cholera  in  Turkey,  the 
commission  did  not  visit  the  mission  stations  in 
that  country,  but  proceeded  directly  from  Naples 
to  Cairo,  Egypt. 

While  in  Cairo  Mr.  Capen  saw  the  value  of  mis- 
sions in  an  unusually  striking  and  concrete  way. 
"In  the  afternoon,  with  our  guide,  we  drove 
through  the  streets  with  their  old  shops, 
then  through  the  Mussulman  quarters  and  the 
oldest  streets  in  Cairo,  miles  of  dirt,  wretched- 
ness, squalor  and  ignorant  humanity.  There  is 
no  race  suicide  here  and  what  wretched  people! 
It  seems  a  blessing  to  learn  that  the  conditions  are 
so  unsanitary  that  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the 
children  die  before  they  are  two  years  old.  If 
anyone  does  not  believe  in  missions  I  would  like 
to  have  him  go  through  that  wretched  Mussulman 
quarter,  and  then  in  contrast  go  and  look  at  the 
faces  of  the  boys  and  girls  at  the  American  Mis- 
sion, and  see  how  Christian  education  is  redeem- 
ing noble  men  and  women. ' ' 

The  primary  purpose  of  the  commission,  as  we 
[195] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

have  stated,  was  to  attend  the  Centenary  of 
America's  Christian  connection  with  Asia,  ob- 
served in  the  Marathi  Mission  in  Bombay,  India. 
The  account  of  the  arrival  of  the  commission  at 
that  city  and  some  of  their  observations  were  re- 
corded by  Mr.  Capen:  "We  arrived  early  in  the 
morning  of  October  thirty-first,  and  saw  the  glori- 
ous sun  rise  over  the  harbor  and  the  city.  The 
steamer  did  not  come  up  to  the  wharf,  but  we  were 
landed  in  a  tug.  On  the  wharf  to  meet  us  was  Dr. 
Robert  A.  Hume  and  his  son  Ernest,  who  has  be- 
come so  famous  in  his  knowledge  of  Indian  litera- 
ture, the  pastor  and  officers  of  the  church,  and  I 
don't  know  how  many  of  the  members.  "We  were 
immediately  garlanded;  it  is  the  Indian  way  of 
honoring  guests.  It  is  a  beautiful  custom.  You 
have  a  long  garland  of  flowers  put  over  your  neck 
and  are  at  the  same  time  given  a  small  bouquet  of 
flowers.  We  were  then  driven  in  carriages  to  the 
church  compound.  Here  the  church  was  gathered 
and  the  children  from  their  mission  schools,  hun- 
dreds in  all,  and  we  had  a  great  reception.  We 
were  all  garlanded  and  then  several  photographs 
taken.  We  then  went  to  breakfast  about  ten 
o  'clock.  Friday  afternoon  we  rode  to  the  Towers 
of  Silence,  the  Parsee  burial  place.  We  had  the 
permission  to  enter  through  the  favor  of  one  of 
their  leaders.  At  death,  the  vultures  come  and  de- 
vour the  bodies,  and  then  the  bones  are  buried. 
We  drove  also  through  the  Hindu  quarter  of  the 
city  in  the  early  evening.  It  was  the  closing  day 
of  the  Feast  of  Lamps  and  the  houses  and  stores 

[196] 


were  all  lighted.  Merchants  open  a  new  set  of 
books  at  this  time  and  every  man  worships  his 
own  business,  whatever  it  is.  The  new  ledgers  are 
brought  to  a  Brahmin  priest  and  worshipped 
through  him.  In  the  evening  we  had  a  reception 
in  the  church  in  honor  of  the  Commission  and 
were  garlanded  again.  We  all  had  to  respond. 

' '  On  Saturday,  November  first,  we  went  to  Miss 
Millard's  Industrial  School  for  Blind  Boys.  Then 
we  visited  the  home  of  a  very  wealthy  merchant, 
a  great  leader  here  among  the  reformed  class  of 
Hindus.  He  is  a  manufacturer  of  cotton  cloth.  It 
was  a  great  opportunity  to  see  the  inside  of  his 
beautiful  home.  In  the  afternoon  we  saw  just  the 
opposite  of  all  this.  We  went  to  an  old  Hindu 
Temple  where  a  rich  Hindu  woman  has  spent  her 
fortune  in  a  resort  for  Hindu  holy  men,  so-called, 
and  Hindus  on  a  pilgrimage.  The  entrance  to  it, 
through  which  we  passed,  was  vile,  and  the  sight 
of  wretched  humanity  was  awful.  They  sat  on 
the  floor  in  this  wretchedness,  long  haired,  dirty, 
an  unspeakable  sight.  We  saw  Hindu  philan- 
thropy at  its  best  and  it  was  wretched  enough. 
In  the  afternoon  at  5.30  we  had  a  meeting  of  the 
Christian  Association,  more  speeches  and  more 
garlands.  That  evening,  with  Dr.  Strong,  I  went 
to  Sholapur,one  of  our  mission  stations,  and  spent 
our  first  Sunday  in  India.  At  9.30  we  had  a  meet- 
ing with  all  the  Sunday  schools.  They  were  lined 
up  and  we  walked  into  the  church  between  them. 
Part  of  the  way  we  walked  over  some  red  cloth 
which  I  found  afterwards  were  some  red  turbans 

[197] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

unwound.  The  owners  were  told  that  they  ought 
to  feel  greatly  honored  because  we  had  walked 
over  them.  The  children's  exercises  were  splen- 
did, although  in  Marathi  language.  Indian  boys 
are  great  on  dialogues.  We  were  garlanded  again 
and  also  had  bracelets  of  flowers  put  around  our 
wrists.  We  saw  one  very  sad  sight.  Several  of 
the  Hindu  girls  were  betrothed  to  be  married,  al- 
though only  about  eight  or  ten  years  old.  They 
had  the  mark  on  their  foreheads  and  a  necklace 
which  answers  to  our  wedding  ring. 

1 '  Sunday  afternoon  there  was  a  united  meeting 
of  the  church  and  several  Christian  Endeavor  So- 
cieties. We  were  garlanded  four  or  five  times 
more  by  the  different  Societies.  At  6.30  I  spoke 
at  the  Eipon  Club,  a  social  club  of  English  speak- 
ing Hindus,  Mohammedans  and  Parsees.  They 
have  a  fine  club  house.  My  theme  was  on  'Inter- 
national Brotherhood.'  On  Monday  we  visited 
the  mission  schools.  We  then  went  to  the  leper 
asylum,  more  speeches  and  more  garlands.  They 
then  drove  me  out  to  see  a  low  class  people  who 
make  their  living  by  pilfering.  They  were  raw 
heathens  with  no  schools  and  miserable  straw 
huts,  not  high  enough  to  even  sit  up  straight  in. 
In  the  afternoon,  the  native  helpers  from  the  out 
stations  came  to  the  bungalow.  There  were  about 
sixty-five  of  them  and  about  ten  white  mission- 
aries and  teachers.  They  told  of  their  work  and 
we  were  garlanded  again.  Three  girls  of  the  grad- 
uating class  were  there  and  had  dialogues,  as 
beautiful  Christian  girls  as  you  ever  saw,  with  the 

[198] 


THE   JOURNEY  ABROAD 

light  of  heaven  upon  their  faces.  The  girls' 
dormitory  was  illuminated  for  us  with  tiny  lamps 
consisting  of  a  little  earthen  vessel  with  some  oil 
and  a  wick  exactly  like  what  they  used  in  Bible 
times.  If  anyone  doubts  what  Christ  is  doing,  let 
him  see  what  I  have  seen  in  the  last  two  days.  The 
first  missionary  came  here  fifty  years  ago  and  it 
was  spiritual  darkness.  Today  there  is  a  church 
of  six  hundred  and  fifty  members,  Sunday  schools 
and  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  schools  for 
boys  and  girls,  out-stations  with  Christian 
workers  and  the  community  is  being  transformed. 
There  have  been  in  this  station  about  five  thou- 
sand Christians  in  the  fifty  years.  No  one  has 
any  idea  of  the  wretchedness  of  the  homes  of  the 
low  caste,  or  outcast  proper;  they  are  made  of 
mud  and  straw  and  cost  about  three  rupees,  or 
one  of  our  American  dollars.  These  are  the  better 
class ;  the  poorer  ones  do  not  look  as  if  they  cost 
thirty  cents." 

The  feelings  of  Mr.  Capen  and  his  fellow 
travelers  as  they  stood  in  the  presence  of  the 
great  Christian  congregation  of  India  at  the  cele- 
bration of  one  hundred  years  of  missions,  taking 
to  those  people  the  greetings  of  President  Wood- 
row  Wilson,  of  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  and 
of  the  American  Board  cannot  adequately  be 
described. 

In  his  address  Mr.  Capen  reviewed  some  of  the 
more  important  changes  of  the  century,  calling  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  one  hundred  years  before 
there  had  been  no  steamships  nor  railroads,  no 

[199] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

telegraphs,  telephones,  nor  airships.  Little  had 
been  known  in  the  United  States  either  of  the 
Near  East  or  of  the  Far  East;  it  was  a  strange 
country  to  which  Gordon  Hall  and  Samuel  Nott 
had  sailed,  and  six  or  seven  months  had  elapsed 
before  the  home  office  knew  of  their  safe  arrival. 
The  United  States  had  been  flooded  with  French 
Atheism,  and  Tom  Paine  clubs  had  been  very  com- 
mon. Yale  and  Princeton  had  been  centers  of  in- 
fidelity, the  former  having  only  two  Christian 
students  and  the  latter  not  even  one.  Sunday 
schools  and  similar  organizations  had  not  been 
dreamed  of.  There  had  been  no  organized  Chris- 
tianity outside  of  the  local  churches.  When  the 
American  Board  petitioned  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  for  a  charter,  it  had  been  at  first  re- 
fused, with  the  statement  that  Massachusetts  had 
no  religion  that  it  could  afford  to  export. 

One  hundred  years  before,  he  continued,  there 
had  been  little  missionary  interest  anywhere  in 
the  world.  When  the  first  missionaries  had  tried 
to  enter  India,  they  had  been  refused  admission, 
the  authorities  asserting  that  they  " would  rather 
have  a  ship-load  of  devils  than  a  ship-load  of  mis- 
sionaries. ' '  The  first  Sunday  school  in  Massachu- 
setts had  not  been  established  until  1810 ;  in  1913 
there  were  in  the  United  States  alone  13,732,841 
schools,  and  missions  were  being  given  a  place  in 
their  courses  of  study.  The  first  Young  People's 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  had  been  organ- 
ized in  1881,  only  thirty-two  years  before,  but 
there  were  then  in  the  United  States  44,864  socie- 

[200] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABROAD 

ties,  with  about  2,000,000  workers,  and  missions 
were  everywhere  a  part  of  the  warp  and  woof  of 
Christian  Endeavor  work.  The  Student  Volun- 
teer Movement  for  Foreign  Missions  had  had  its 
birth  at  Mt.  Hermon  in  1886,  and  it  had  reached 
by  its  propaganda  nearly  one  thousand  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning  in  the  United  States.  In 
the  twenty-seven  years  of  its  existence  5,500  of 
those  enrolled  by  it  had  been  sent  out  to  foreign 
lands  by  the  mission  boards.  Growing  out  of  The 
Young  Men's  and  The  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations  and  The  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment, The  World's  Student  Federation,  which 
then  comprised  2,305  associations  and  156,071 
members,  had  become  a  parliament  of  the  world. 
In  1906  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  had 
been  started.  No  organization  had  ever  reached 
mature  men  as  this  had. 

But  great  as  had  been  the  development  of  the 
thought  and  the  activity  of  the  Church  and  other 
religious  organizations  there  has  been  an  even 
greater  change  in  the  thought  of  the  world.  ' '  The 
diplomacy  of  the  world  is  on  the  side  of  mis- 
sions," declared  Mr.  Capen.  "Our  great  leaders 
in  the  United  States,  President  Wilson,  Ex-Presi- 
dent Taft,  Secretary  of  State  Bryan,  and  many 
others,  are  enthusiastic  believers  in  the  mission 
enterprises.  The  press  of  America  is  almost  uni- 
versally in  favor  of  missions.  Within  the  last  few 
years  there  is  hardly  a  paper  of  any  prominence 
in  this  country  which  has  not  had  some  sympa- 
thetic editorial  notice  of  missions. ' ' 

[201] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

While  Mr.  Capen  dwelt  at  length  on  the  new 
forces  which  had  enlarged  the  religious  life  of 
America  in  one  hundred  years,  he  recognized  that 
greater  changes  had  taken  place  as  a  result  of  the 
reflex  influence  of  missions  upon  this  country.  He 
pointed  out  how  missions  had  saved  the  United 
States  from  narrowness  and  provincialism,  how 
it  had  appealed  to  the  heroism  of  the  student  class, 
furnishing  a  moral  equivalent  for  war,  how  the 
work  had  brought  together  the  various  denomina- 
tions of  America,  not  only  reducing  ecclesiastical 
divisions,  but  also  preventing  a  wicked  waste  of 
money,  men  and  energy,  and  how  it  had  become 
one  of  the  greatest  forces  in  uniting  the  whole 
world  and  hastening  the  day  of  universal  peace 
and  good  will. 

Mr.  Capen  was  an  optimist,  but  his  opinion  was 
based  upon  facts  of  history.  When  he  contem- 
plated them,  his  great  soul  looked  forward  with 
confidence  into  the  future.  "We  are  on  the 
threshold  of  a  great  movement  that  is  to  Chris- 
tianize the  nations.  To  accomplish  this  we  should 
federate  our  work  at  home,  and  federate  all  our 
missionary  work  abroad.  This  passion  for  re- 
deeming humanity  has  been  one  of  the  greatest 
phenomena  of  this  century,  and  it  is  based  on  love 
for  a  personal  Christ.  With  courage,  faith, 
and  indomitable  patience,  our  missionaries  have 
sought  to  Christianize  the  older  nations  of  the 
world.  'What  an  absurdity  is  this  effort,'  so  the 
world  says.  It  has  learned  better  now.  Yet,  it  is 
the  same  absurdity  as  when  a  little  band  of  fisher- 

[202] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABROAD 

men,  inspired  by  their  risen  Lord,  sought  to  Chris- 
tianize the  Roman  Empire.  Who  triumphed 
then!  "Who  will  triumph  now?  God,  God,  who  is 
back  of  all." 

Wherever  Mr.  Capen  went  in  India  he  was  im- 
pressed by  the  degrading  social  conditions — the 
enslaved  womanhood,  the  loveless  lot  of  wives,  the 
hopeless  state  of  young  widows,  the  deadening  ef- 
fect of  the  caste  system  and  the  wide-spread  im- 
purity. He  realized  the  regrettable  lack  of  wise 
philanthropy  and  appreciated  the  inability  of  the 
native  religions  to  reform  or  redeem. 

Concerning  his  visit  to  Benares,  the  sacred  city 
of  India,  he  wrote:  "We  started  at  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  piloted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Longman  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  to  go  to  the 
Ganges  and  see  its  Hindu  Temples.  We  took  a 
large  flat-bottom  craft,  rowed  by  two  men  with 
long  sweeping  oars,  and  we  went  back  and  forth 
and  saw  the  crowds  taking  their  morning  worship 
by  bathing  in  the  sacred  Ganges.  The  banks  were 
lined  with  temples,  the  bells  were  ringing  to  wake 
up  the  gods,  people  were  bringing  their  gifts  of 
flowers  and  fruits  to  give  to  the  gods,  which  the 
priests  got.  The  holy  men  were  in  evidence. 
Some  of  them  were  saying  over  and  over  again, 
'Ram,  Ram/  the  name  of  their  god;  others  had 
their  hands  over  their  faces  and  were  swinging 
around;  one  was  holding  his  nose,  as  certain 
prayers  are  to  be  said  holding  your  breath.  There 
was  an  ascetic  in  a  stone  cavity  going  through  his 
prayers.  There  is  a  regular  formula,  and  to  do 

[203] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

the  whole  thing  takes  three  or  four  hours.  There 
are  about  three  miles  of  these  temples,  and  thou- 
sands of  priests  who  live  on  the  credulity  of  the 
poor  people  by  taking  their  gifts.  The  pilgrims 
come  from  everywhere.  At  times  of  festivals, 
sometimes  a  million  people  are  here  and  what 
must  it  be  then!  Bullocks  are  brought  as  offer- 
ings and  two  of  them  were  having  a  fight  on  the 
steps  of  one  of  the  temples,  the  worshippers  urg- 
ing them.  Strange  sights  indeed  they  were !  We 
then  left  our  boat  and  walked  a  while  in  the  nar- 
row gulleys  and  lanes  among  these  temples.  It 
was  the  saddest  sight  I  ever  saw.  Horrible  idols, 
impure  and  corrupt,  lined  the  way.  I  would  not 
write  about  them;  it  makes  me  recoil  to  think 
about  them.  I  saw  a  spiked  bed  and  a  holy  man 
sat  on  it  for  the  gift  of  a  few  annas.  He  was  a 
downright  fraud.  There  is  the  Inner  Pool,  which 
we  passed  in  our  walk,  considered  the  most  sacred 
spot  in  India.  We  went  by  the  Golden  Temple 
and  the  Cow  Temple.  In  the  latter,  you  can  often 
see  poor  deluded  people  kissing  the  cow's  tail. 
There  was  a  constant  procession  of  people  passing 
into  these  temples  with  their  offerings  of  jars  of 
water  from  the  sacred  Ganges,  and  other  things. 
The  bells  were  clanging  and  the  narrow  lane  was 
lined  with  a  solid  row  of  beggars  holding  out  their 
hands  and  beseeching  us  to  give.  The  whole  thing 
was  awful  and  depressingly  sad.  I  have  seen  it 
once ;  I  never  want  to  see  it  again.  The  holy  men, 
so-called,  are  the  biggest  frauds !  They  are  prac- 
tically naked.  We  photographed  one  and  gave 

[204] 


THE    JOUKNEY   ABROAD 

him  an  anna,  which  is  two  cents.  We  were  fol- 
lowed for  a  mile  or  two  by  another  one,  who  said 
we  gave  the  other  man  an  anna  and  he  wanted  one, 
too.  He  was  also  after  other  visitors.  The  whole 
system  is  awfully  degrading;  it  is  a  religion  of 
lust.  One  of  the  temples  has  a  sign  over  it,  'No 
Women  Admitted ' ;  the  images  are  awfully  vile,  I 
am  told.  Some  of  the  temples  have  rooms  up- 
stairs kept  for  vile  purposes,  and  all  in  the  name 
of  religion !  One  of  the  sacred  books  declares  that 
if  a  Brahmin  teaches  an  outcast,  both  will  go  to 
one  of  the  lowest  hells.  That  is  all  the  message 
that  Hinduism  can  give  to  fifty  million  human 
beings  with  immortal  souls,  who  are  born  outside 
of  caste.  Compare  this  with  the  message  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  every  human  being,  a  message  of  love 
and  forgiveness.  Yet  we  have  swamis  come  to 
America  and  tell  about  the  beauties  of  Hindu- 
ism. If  I  ever  run  across  one  of  those  fellows 
when  I  get  home,  he  will  have  an  uncomfortable 
time. ' ' 

In  view  of  these  conditions,  and  considering  also 
his  own  passion  to  bring  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
the  earth,  we  do  not  find  it  unnatural  that  in  his 
addresses  at  the  Centenary  of  the  Marathi  Mis- 
sion he  laid  the  chief  emphasis  upon  the  social 
message  of  Christianity.  He  dwelt  at  length  upon 
what  Christianity  has  done  for  woman  and  upon 
her  place  in  the  world,  showing  that  where  Chris- 
tianity has  not  entered  woman  has  everywhere 
been  degraded,  and  has  been  used  as  a  slave  and  a 
drudge.  Once,  he  stated,  it  was  thought  impossi- 

[205] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ble  for  woman  to  be  taught;  people  considered 
that  it  would  be  easier,  for  example,  to  teach  a 
cow  to  read. 

"Where  Christianity  has  entered,"  he  con- 
tinued, "there  is  a  growing  recognition  that 
woman  is  the  equal  of  man.  She  should  have  the 
same  legal  rights.  Where  Christianity  has  en- 
tered, universal  respect  is  paid  to  her.  The  first 
institution  God  made  was  the  home,  and  woman, 
as  the  mother  of  the  children,  has  been  the  center 
of  it.  Christianity  has  made  her  the  queen.  No 
wonder  women  love  Christ,  for  it  is  his  teaching 
which  has  lifted  them  to  their  present  broad  posi- 
tion of  influence." 

He  dwelt  also  upon  the  fact  that  it  is  Chris- 
tianity that  has  emphasized  the  sacredness  of 
marriage.  "Where  the  principles  of  Christ  have 
never  entered,  the  marriage  tie  has  been  lightly 
held;  plural  wives,  wives  of  inferior  rank,  wives 
kept  and  used  as  slaves,  have  been  the  rule.  We 
know  the  wretchedness  and  degradation  of  it  all. 
Compare  this  with  Christian  marriage,  one 
woman  with  one  man,  as  equals,  as  partners  to- 
gether, for  joy  or  for  sorrow,  for  better,  for 
worse,  to  the  end  of  life." 

He  emphasized  the  fact  that  it  was  Christ  who 
first  laid  supreme  stress  not  only  upon  the  outer 
conduct  but  also  upon  the  inner  thought — who 
taught  the  world  that  the  sin  of  lust  is  in  the 
thought  and  that  this  comes  before  the  outward 
act.  "We  know  the  awful  immoralities  permitted 
in  non-Christian  lands,  not  only  permitted  but 

[206] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABEOAD 

often  committed  in  the  name  of  religion.  No  man 
can  be  a  Christian,  however,  who  does  not  strive 
for  a  clean  heart  and  a  pure  life. ' ' 

In  the  midst  of  a  nation  of  poverty,  where  there 
was  no  systematic  charity  and  no  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  higher  caste  to  elevate  the  lower,  Mr. 
Capen  made  it  clear  to  his  hearers  that  Christian- 
ity creates  respect  for  the  weak  and  the  poor — 
that  the  heart  of  Christ's  religion  is  in  the  love 
and  care  which  it  inspires  its  followers  to  show  to 
the  sick  and  the  dependent.  Finally,  in  a  land 
honeycombed  by  the  caste  system,  he  led  them  to 
think  of  Christianity  as  the  origin  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty,  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  democracy  and  of  the  letters 
of  Paul  as  showing  that  in  the  Kingdom  of  God 
there  can  be  no  recognition  of  distinctions  between 
master  and  slave,  but  that  all  stand  as  Christ's 
free  men.  He  prophesied  that  some  day  oppres- 
sion of  every  kind  will  cease  and  that  the  truth  of 
Christ's  message  that  greatness  is  not  in  wealth 
and  power  and  position  but  in  service  to  others 
will  be  everywhere  realized. 

Even  when  he  spoke  to  these  Christians  of  In- 
dia upon  a  distinctly  religious  subject,  "The 
Cross  of  Christ, ' '  it  was  the  social  aspect  that  was 
uppermost.  The  cross,  he  declared,  is  a  challenge 
to  every  man  to  the  noblest  service,  a  call  away 
from  a  life  of  ease  to  a  life  of  unselfish  devotion. 
' '  The  way  of  complete  and  final  victory  is  only  by 
the  way  of  the  cross.  The  things  most  worthy  are 
achieved  by  sacrifices.  We  must  make  Jesus 

[207] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

Christ  Master  and  Lord  in  all  our  lives.  We  must 
yield  a  sacrificial  obedience  to  His  will.  We  must 
consider  our  lives  a  trust  from  Him.  Not  until 
we  are  willing  to  work  and  give  so  that  it  will  be 
real  sacrifices  that  cost  something,  shall  we  be 
able  to  perform  the  task  that  is  permitted  to  us. 
It  was  not  an  easy  thing  for  Christ  to  redeem  the 
world,  nor  has  the  work  thus  far  accomplished 
been  carried  on  in  an  easy  way.  All  the  gains 
thus  far  have  been  through  sacrifices  in  the  way 
of  the  cross.  Let  us  join  the  number  of  those  who 
are  willing  to  give  themselves,  their  time,  their 
means,  their  pleasure,  that  Christ  may  be  quickly 
known  in  all  the  earth. ' ' 

He  was  much  impressed  by  the  work  of  those 
far-sighted  missionaries  who  had  established 
schools  and  laid  their  foundations  by  developing 
a  generation  of  intelligent  Christians  rather  than 
by  devoting  all  their  time  to  preaching  and  direct 
evangelistic  work.  Thousands  of  dollars  have 
been  wasted  by  some  denominations  in  work  of 
this  latter  type.  Their  missionaries  have  gone 
forth  with  enthusiasm  and  have  often  enrolled 
large  numbers  of  so-called  "converts,"  but  they 
have  failed  to  build  up  Christian  communities  or 
to  effect  permanently  the  social  life.  On  the  other 
hand,  missionaries  like  Hume  and  Fairbank  and 
their  families  have  established  schools,  and  have 
not  only  made  converts,  but  have  changed  the  life 
of  entire  cities,  forming  intelligent  Christian  com- 
munities and  creating  leaders  for  the  new  India. 

Mr.  Capen  wrote  concerning  his  visit  to  Ah- 
[208] 


mednagar:  "Dr.  Hume  is  the  leading  missionary 
here,  although  he  has  a  fine  group  of  splendid  men 
and  women  about  him.  There  are  about  fifteen 
hundred  pupils  of  all  grades  in  the  schools  and 
nearly  all  are  Christians.  The  population  is 
twenty-five  thousand,  and  six  thousand  of  these 
are  Christians,  or  one  in  six.  It  is  one  in  four  in 
the  United  States,  so  you  can  see  what  great  work 
has  been  done  here  since  1831,  when  this  station 
was  opened." 

He  went  also  to  Vadala,  where  the  Fairbank 
family  has  worked  over  sixty  years.  When  this 
consecrated  group  of  missionaries  went  to  this 
place  it  was  in  the  darkness  of  heathenism.  No 
work  had  been  done  for  the  uplift  of  the  people, 
life  was  in  danger  from  outlaws,  and  schools  were 
unknown.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  Fairbanks, 
schools  for  boys  and  girls  have  trained  a  genera- 
tion of  men  and  women  who  have  developed  a 
community  where  life  is  safe,  property  is  pro- 
tected and  justice  is  administered,  and  where  hun- 
dreds enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  Christian  faith. 

While  Mr.  Capen  was  visiting  the  Vadala  sta- 
tion he  had  an  experience  which  he  counted  one  of 
the  greatest  events  of  his  life.  "It  was  just  after 
sundown  when  four  men  appeared  with  a  Chris- 
tian spokesman.  They  were  'Mahars,'  outcasts. 
They  had  walked  twenty-two  miles  to  plead  that 
they  might  have  Christian  teachers  and  preachers, 
and  a  school  for  their  children.  They  had  made 
this  plea  many  times  before  and  had  been  refused, 
for  there  was  no  money  to  pay  for  the  man.  They 

[209] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

said  there  were  one  thousand  people  in  the  village, 
there  were  one  hundred  men  who  wanted  to  be 
baptized  and  become  Christians,  there  were  fifty 
boys  for  the  school.  What  a  plea!  They  were 
willing  themselves  to  put  up  the  schoolhouse  and 
the  teacher's  house  at  a  cost  of  $50.  Mud  walls 
and  straw  roofs  are  cheap!  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbank, 
the  head  of  the  station,  to  whose  bungalow  they 
had  come,  told  me  he  had  a  trained  man  all  ready 
when  the  salary  could  be  provided.  He  wanted  it 
for  five  years  before  starting  the  school ;  it  would 
be  folly  to  begin  and  stop.  The  last  state  would 
be  worse  than  the  first.  I  asked  what  salary  was 
needed  to  support  the  trained  leader  and  was  told 
$50,  the  regular  price  for  such  men.  I  felt  as 
though  I  must  accept  this  trust.  To  send  these 
men  back  into  darkness,  when  I  could  help,  would 
be  a  wrong;  so  I  said  I  would  stand  back  of  the 
man's  salary  for  five  years.  I  rejoiced  to  have  the 
chance.  Such  happy  men  as  they  were  when  they 
started  back!  You  wonder  perhaps  at  the  price. 
One  of  the  arguments  I  have  used  for  foreign  mis- 
sions was  the  increased  power  of  money;  a  small 
sum  in  our  money  will  do  so  much  here.  A  man 
who  makes  cheap  shoes  earns  six  cents  a  day; 
some  of  the  laborers  earn  only  five  cents  a  day.  A 
fifty-dollar  salary,  therefore,  for  an  educated  man 
out  of  our  Christian  schools  is  a  low  wage  in 
comparison. ' ' 

Mr.  Capen  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  sacri- 
fices made  by  the  native  Christians.  While  he 
was  in  Ahmednagar  there  was  a  service  of  offer- 

[210] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABROAD 

ings.  "The  men  from  the  different  stations 
marched  in  with  their  banners.  They  sung  and 
made  more  noise  before  the  meeting  opened  than 
a  college  crowd  or  political  rally.  They  went 
around  and  around  in  a  circle,  singing  'Victory 
for  Christ.'  Then  their  offering  came.  Men 
brought  their  money  and  laid  it  upon  the  com- 
munion table,  as  the  colored  people  used  to  do  in 
the  South,  but  they  did  not  all  bring  money.  One 
brought  a  dozen  bananas,  another  needlework, 
eight  or  ten  chickens,  three  eggs,  and  a  basket  of 
sweets.  These  were  sold  at  auction  on  the  church 
steps  after  the  service.  Sometimes  they  bring  a 
goat.  This  is  very  natural  for  the  people  back  in 
the  country  who  know  nothing  about  money ;  some 
of  them  never  saw  any.  They  bring  in  eggs  or 
chickens  or  goats  to  the  pastor  and  barter  them 
for  clothing  or  whatever  they  want.  They  bring 
for  the  Lord 's  offering,  what  they  have. ' ' 

To  become  Christians  sometimes  costs  these  peo- 
ple their  family  connections.  From  Madras  Mr. 
Capen  wrote:  "In  the  early  evening  we  went  to 
a  meeting  at  the  Baptist  Compound.  At  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  the  morning  they  had  a  very  promi- 
nent man  from  the  Telegus  unite  with  the 
church.  The  leaders  of  his  caste  met  and  voted 
him  out  of  the  family.  Around  the  church  there 
were  hired  mourners  at  the  time  of  the  service, 
making  a  great  noise,  mourning  for  him  as  one 
dead.  It  costs  something  to  be  a  Christian  in 
India." 

Not  all  the  sacrifices,  however,  are  on  the  part  of 
[211] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  natives.  In  Ahmednagar  is  a  great  industrial 
work  carried  on  by  a  graduate  of  the  Institute  of 
Technology.  He  has  invented  a  loom  for  the  poor 
people  which  received  a  gold  medal  from  the 
Government  Exhibition.  "His  wife  died  a  year 
or  two  ago,  but  he  stays  at  his  post  with  his  two 
small  boys.  He  has  the  regular  salary  of  an  Amer- 
ican Board  Missionary;  I  think  $40  a  month, 
or  $480  a  year.  He  has  a  standing  offer  from  the 
Indian  government  of  $6,000  a  year  and  another 
from  an  automobile  firm  in  Great  Britain  of  $10,- 
000  a  year.  The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  has  not  yet 
gone  out  of  the  world." 

One  of  the  finest  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Ca- 
pen  on  his  journey  through  the  mission  fields  was 
in  the  friendly  encouragement  that  he  took  to  the 
missionaries  and  the  hope  thathe  inspired  in  them. 
Indeed,  at  home  or  abroad,  he  was  interested 
chiefly  in  people  and  in  what  they  were  doing. 
He  knew  the  power  of  sympathy  and  the  value 
of  the  sense  of  companionship  in  service,  and  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  women  all  over  the  world  have 
risen  to  bear  testimony  to  what  his  Christlike 
character  has  done  for  them.  Loyal  L.  Wirt,  who 
was  one  of  the  pioneer  missionaries  of  the  Sunday 
School  and  Publishing  Society  in  Northern  Cali- 
fornia, wrote: 

"After  five  years  of  pioneer  Sunday  school 
work,  a  settled  pastorate  with  opportunities  for 
study  and  travel  was  making  its  strong  appeal. 
But  it  took  all  my  courage  to  tell  the  good  Secre- 
tary I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  resign.  It  was 

[212] 


THE   JOURNEY  ABROAD 

then  that  I  learned  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  So- 
ciety's wise  administration  and  vigorous  policy. 
'Let  us  go  down  and  see  President  Capen  about 
it, '  said  Dr.  Boynton.  Every  man  has  his  sacred 
hours.  They  are  not  many.  Usually  he  can  count 
them  upon  his  fingers.  The  hour  I  spent  in  the 
private  office  of  Torrey,  Bright  and  Capen  I  have 
always  counted  on  my  index  finger.  It  was  a  rev- 
elation to  me  of  a  business  man's  valuation  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Of  ministerial  valuations  I  had 
heard  many,  and  they  were  pretty  much  alike — 
but  here  was  a  new  set  of  values,  a  new  termi- 
nology, an  ardor,  a  sweetness,  a  loyalty,  a 
comprehensive  sweep  of  the  triumphs  and  oppor- 
tunities of  the  Church  Militant  that  somehow  put 
me  in  the  class  with  the  soldier  who,  having 
touched  Wellington's  hand,  was  ready  to  count 
the  most  difficult  or  dangerous  mission  a  privi- 
lege. Here  was  one  of  the  unpublished  springs  of 
vitality.  I  was  beginning  to  touch  the  sources  of 
the  power  and  passion  felt  in  thirty  states  through 
the  channels  of  this  young  Society.  The  particu- 
lar object  of  our  visit  to  that  business  office  was 
almost  forgotten  as  President  Capen  sketched  the 
glorious  fields  of  service  committed  to  this  'John 
the  Baptist'  Society  and  to  the  men  who  were 
laying  the  foundations  of  a  City  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God.  Little  country  schoolhouses 
became  Bethels;  the  packs  of  Sunday-school  sup- 
plies were  no  longer  heavy,  but  had  become  leaves 
of  healing  to  the  wounded  in  life 's  by-ways.  Some- 
how as  Greatheart  spoke  in  those  low,  vibrant 

[213] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

tones,  the  work  of  a  Sunday-school  missionary  be- 
came the  most  sacred  thing  on  earth.  To  break 
the  Bread  of  Life  to  groups  of  isolated  men, 
women  and  children,  who  would  not  hear  the 
evangel  again  until  his  next  visit  many  months 
hence,  made  a  cathedral  pulpit  seem  common- 
place. He  stretched  both  hands  across  his  office 
desk,  palms  upward,  and  seemed  to  weigh  the 
comparative  importance  of  each.  What  a  man  he 
ever  was  for  bringing  out  the  true  values  of  life. 
But  not  satisfied  with  his  own  judgment,  he  qui- 
etly turned  the  key  in  the  door  and  said,  '  But  wis- 
dom cometh  from  above;  shall  we  talk  to  the 
Father  about  it  1 '  My  eyes  grow  dim  as  I  think  of 
that  hour,  nineteen  years  ago.  I  cannot  walk 
down  Washington  Street  today  without  wanting 
to  take  the  shoes  from  off  my  feet  as  I  pass  No. 
350,  for  to  me  it  will  always  be  holy  ground. 
When  we  arose  from  our  knees  he  came  over  to 
my  chair,  slipped  his  arm  about  my  shoulders  and 
said,  'The  Society  needs  you,  the  people  in  the 
mountains  need  you,  I  think  Christ  needs  you  out 
there  where  the  lambs  stray. '  As  I  took  his  hand, 
the  greatest  pulpit  in  the  land  had  no  attraction 
for  me.  I  was  hearing  the  call,  not  of  the  ninety 
and  nine,  but  of  the  one. 

li  'And  you  will  go  back?' 

"  'Yes,  I  will  go  back,  if  you  let  me,  with  a 
new  sense  of  the  dignity  and  the  privilege  of 
this  wider  ministry,  and  will  stay  there  so  long  as 
you  and  Dr.  Boynton  hold  the  ropes. '  As  we  went 
out  into  the  busy  street,  I  overheard  him  say 

[214] 


THE   JOUENEY   ABROAD 

to  the  Secretary,  *  I  think  the  funds  of  the  Society 
will  admit  of  an  increase  in  the  appropriation  for 
California,  will  they  not?'  He  waved  a  cheery 
good-bye  and  was  gone.  I  never  saw  his  kindly 
face  again.  Five  minutes  before  my  mother's 
spirit  slipped  through  the  'wicket  gate,'  I  heard 
her  whisper,  '  Soon  I  shall  see  my  great  and  good 
Dr.  Finney  again.'  Some  day  I  hope  to  see  my 
great  and  good  Dr.  Capen  again." 

This  element  of  his  character  was  a  part  of  his 
very  life — not  an  adjunct  to  his  office,  not  a  thing 
worn  professionally.  He  was  not  one  man  offi- 
cially and  another  man  in  his  private  capacity. 
Sympathy  was  a  part  of  his  being,  because  love 
for  his  Christ  was  the  breath  of  his  life.  It  was 
expressed  at  all  times  and  to  all  classes  of  people. 

It  was  his  habit  to  salute  policemen,  as  he  met 
them  at  their  posts  of  duty.  A  friend,  who  often 
came  from  the  South  Station  with  Mr.  Capen, 
noticed  that  he  never  failed  to  greet  the  officer  on 
duty  in  the  crowded  street  in  front  of  the  entrance. 
After  Mr.  Capen 's  death  this  friend,  out  of  curios- 
ity, stopped  one  day  to  ask  the  officer  if  he  remem- 
bered Mr.  Capen  and  had  heard  of  his  death. 
Immediately  the  man  took  a  postal  card  from  his 
pocket,  saying: 

"I  received  this  card  from  him  only  a  few  days 
ago.  It  was  written  from  India. ' '  He  wrote  hun- 
dreds of  such  messages  to  people  all  over  the 
world,  some  in  humble  places  and  others  in  posi- 
tions of  influence. 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Mills,  well  known  to  the  Congre- 
[215] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

gationalists  of  America,  and  a  child  of  the  Central 
Church  of  Jamaica  Plain,  wrote  to  Dr.  Edward 
W.  Capen: 

*  *  Your  father  and  mother  gave  me  the  privilege 
of  their  affection  for  the  sake  of  the  old  days. 
When  a  boy  I  used  to  see  them  and  felt  the 
strength  of  their  influence  in  Jamaica  Plain. 
Through  all  the  years  your  father's  love  and 
friendship  has  been  most  precious  to  me.  I  re- 
member the  impression  he  made  upon  me  when  I 
first  saw  him  in  his  young  manhood,  eagerly  giv- 
ing his  life  to  the  service  of  the  Church  and  to  the 
Master.  I  can  see  him  as  he  rose  in  the  prayer 
meeting  to  speak  and  can  feel  still  the  fervor  of 
his  Christian  appeal.  I  have  no  question  that  this 
personal  sense  of  divinity  touched  my  own  life  in 
those  early  days,  and  when  I  came  to  know  him 
familiarly  after  entering  the  ministry,  I  always 
felt  that  he  was  like  an  elder  brother,  almost  a 
spiritual  father.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  passed 
through  any  particularly  significant  event  in  my 
ministry,  which  became  known  to  him,  that  I  did 
not  receive  from  his  own  hand,  a  warm,  hearty, 
personal  letter,  and  I  never  met  him  anywhere 
without  having  the  sense  of  his  personal  affection. 
It  is  a  great  quality  of  a  noble  life  to  share  itself 
with  those  younger  in  service;  that,  your  father's 
life  illustrated  to  an  extraordinary  degree." 

Mr.  Capen  was  an  optimist  by  faith.  If  there  was 
work  which  needed  to  be  done,  he  believed  some 
way  would  be  found  to  accomplish  it.  If  there  was 
no  immediate  solution  of  the  difficulty,  he  encour- 

[216] 


THE   JOURNEY   ABROAD 

aged  men  to  hope  that  a  way  would  be  opened. 
He  took  his  optimism  to  the  mission  stations, 
spent  hours  in  conferences  with  the  workers, 
heard  sympathetically  the  story  of  their  needs, 
and  sent  them  back  to  their  posts  of  duty  with 
the  feeling  that  they  had  a  personal  friend  in  the 
President  of  the  Board — a  man  who  was  helping 
to  bear  their  burdens,  carry  their  sorrows  and 
share  their  disappointments.  They  were  made 
to  feel  that  the  Board  was  more  than  a  machine ; 
that  it  was  a  personality  full  of  love  and  hope  and 
that  failure  was  impossible. 

When  Mr.  Capen  was  in  his  native  land  much 
of  the  value  of  his  service  came  from  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  layman  giving  unselfishly  of  his  time  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Mr. 
George  S.  Goddard,  State  Librarian  of  Connect- 
icut, writing  of  the  time  when  he  was  a  young  man 
in  preparatory  school,  says : 

"It  was  through  Mr.  Capen  that  I  received  my 
first  outlook  toward  the  missionary  field.  I  re- 
member his  intense  earnestness  when  speaking 
and  the  clear  manner  in  which  he  presented  his 
subject.  I  can  never  forget  the  impression  made 
when  I  learned  that  Mr.  Capen  was  not  a  minister, 
but  that  it  was  a  Boston  business  man  who  was 
speaking  to  us  boys  and  girls  instead  of  a  minister 
or  returned  missionary.  The  influence  and  im- 
pressions made  by  his  visit  have  been  emphasized 
by  the  several  addresses  which  it  has  been  my 
privilege  to  hear  him  make  during  these  later 
years,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  im- 

[217] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

pressions  made  upon  me  were  not  much  different 
than  those  made  upon  my  schoolmates  and  the 
other  young  men  and  young  women,  to  whom  it 
has  been  his  privilege  these  many  years  to  present 
his  favorite  theme." 

Mr.  George  W.  Coleman  bears  a  similar  testi- 
mony: ''May  I  tell  you  that  I  took  Mr.  Capen  for 
my  ideal  Christian  business  man  nearly  twenty 
years  ago  ?  It  has  been  my  ambition  ever  since  to 
do  as  he  did  rather  than  to  devote  all  my  energies 
to  accumulating  a  fortune,  or  to  winning  fame  and 
power.  I  suppose  there  are  thousands  of  other 
young  men  who  have  looked  up  to  Mr.  Capen  in 
this  same  way." 

Professor  Williston  Walker  of  The  Yale  School 
of  Religion  writes :  "It  was  my  privilege  to  be  as- 
sociated with  him  in  a  good  many  matters,  notably 
and  lately  in  the  Commission  of  Nineteen.  The 
longer  I  knew  him  the  more  my  admiration  for 
him  increased.  He  was  in  a  peculiar  degree  a 
man  of  sanity  of  judgment,  of  clearness  of  vision 
and  of  integrity  of  purpose.  He  was  a  man  to  be 
trusted  and  admired.  But  even  more,  he  was  a 
man  of  Christian  character  that  was  in  no  way 
superficial,  but  was  of  the  fundamental  core  of 
his  being.  I  saw  him  in  some,  to  him,  trying  sit- 
uations, and  he  bore  himself  ever  with  simplicity 
and  strength  and  even  more,  in  eminent  sweet- 
ness of  Christian  spirit.  He  has  done  a  noble 
work. ' ' 

When  Mr.  Capen  visited  the  Orient  the  power 
of  his  influence  as  a  layman  was  even  greater 

[218] 


THE    JOUKNEY   ABKOAD 

than  it  had  been  in  his  own  country.  In  the  Far 
East  religion  has  been  associated  with  the  priest- 
hood, and  the  laymen  from  the  West  whom  they 
had  seen  had  come  largely  in  search  of  wealth. 
Here  came  a  man  without  pay,  serving  because  he 
loved  mankind  and  was  eager  to  lift  them  to  a 
higher  plane.  He  came  with  only  one  purpose  and 
that  was  to  give, — ''not  to  be  ministered  unto  but 
to  minister," — and  through  his  example  scores 
of  men  got  a  new  vision  of  the  meaning  of 
Christianity. 

When  he  left  India  and  went  to  Ceylon  he  was 
further  impressed  by  the  value  of  Christian  edu- 
cation as  the  foundation  of  missionary  work.  He 
wrote : 

'  *  The  great  number,  118,  of  village  schools,  with 
9,000  pupils,  with  the  great  school  for  girls  at 
Uduvil,  made  famous  by  the  long  service  of  Miss 
Agnew,  and  now  of  Miss  Howland,  with  Jaffna 
College  for  the  boys,  have  been  providing  preach- 
ers and  teachers  among  the  vigorous  families  of 
Ceylon.  There  are  now  nearly  2,000  students  in 
our  high  schools  and  colleges. 

'  *  Our  last  Sunday  was  spent  in  connection  with 
the  work  of  this  mission.  The  center  of  our  op- 
erations was  from  the  bungalow  of  Rev.  Giles  G. 
Brown  at  Vaddukoddai.  I  started  with  Mr. 
Brown  for  the  church  service  at  Uduvil,  several 
miles  away,  passing  one  village  school  and  the 
ruins  of  another  by  the  way.  The  church  at  Udu- 
vil was  filled  with  a  large  audience  when  we  ar- 
rived, and  I  had  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  them 

[219] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

through  an  interpreter.  At  least  300  girls  from 
the  Uduvil  school  were  in  attendance.  There  was 
a  communion  service,  and  several  united  with  the 
church. 

1 1  On  our  way  home  we  called  at  the  house  of  an 
old  Indian  preacher  who  has  been  a  noted  leader, 
an  old  saint  dying  of  creeping  paralysis,  and  al- 
most ready  to  be  translated.  He  could  hardly 
move  a  limb;  his  speech  was  impaired;  but  his 
mind  was  perfectly  clear.  He  spends  much  of  his 
time  in  prayer  in  a  systematic  way.  He  has  a 
topic  for  every  day  of  the  week,  and  he  is  praying 
for  the  whole  world.  I  have  a  copy  of  his  plan, 
which  impresses  one  with  its  breadth  and  com- 
prehensiveness. The  name  of  this  old  saint  was 
chosen  by  him  when  he  was  baptized,  and  is  Paul 
Lowe  Christian.  He  wanted  it  to  be  apparent  to 
every  one  that  he  was  a  Christian.  His  middle 
name,  Lowe,  was  chosen  by  him  in  recognition  of 
the  man  who  had  been  most  instrumental  in  lead- 
ing him  to  Christ.  This  remarkable  man  has 
had  a  wonderful  experience.  He  comes  of  a 
Buddhist  family,  and  was  expected  to  have  been 
a  priest  in  the  Buddhist  temple.  His  family  now 
own  one  of  these  heathen  temples,  and  his  grand- 
father's shoes  are  worshiped  there.  When  a 
lad  he  went  to  one  of  our  schools,  was  led  to  see 
the  folly  of  his  old  belief,  and  became  a  Christian. 
He  was  persecuted  for  a  time,  and  did  not  dare 
to  go  home.  As  a  result  of  his  giving  up  his  old 
religion  he  lost  all  his  property.  He  has  a  fine 
mind;  has  enjoyed  reading  such  books  as  those  of 

[220] 


THE   JOUENEY   ABROAD 

President  Henry  C.  King  and  Professor  W.  N. 
Clarke.  He  knows  what  he  believes,  and  when  in 
health  could  hold  his  own  in  any  religious  discus- 
sion. We  could  see  in  this  man  what  we  have  seen 
everywhere,  that  many  of  the  high  caste  as  well  as 
those  of  the  low  caste  and  the  outcast,  are  leaven- 
ing the  nation  with  Christian  truth. 

"At  four  o'clock  we  spoke  in  the  church  oppo- 
site the  compound  of  Mr.  Brown's  bungalow.  The 
building  is  an  old  one,  erected  by  the  Dutch  in 
1678,  and  bears  that  date  on  the  door.  It  was  a 
pleasure  to  speak  from  the  pulpit  where  Rev.  Mr. 
Sanders,  the  father  of  Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders, 
preached  for  so  many  years  in  his  faithful  service 
to  these  people. 

"After  the  service  we  had  an  informal  gather- 
ing never  to  be  forgotten.  About  twenty  pastors 
and  teachers,  including  three  from  Jaffna  Col- 
lege, came  to  the  bungalow,  and  were  there  for  two 
hours.  They  were  all  Tamils,  and  had  been 
trained  in  our  schools  here,  and  were  vigorous  and 
capable  men.  They  told  me  of  their  work,  and  the 
difficulty  they  have  in  living  on  their  meager  sala- 
ries. The  increased  cost  of  living  seems  to  be  a 
world  problem.  The  price  of  rice,  the  staple  of 
their  food  here,  has  doubled  in  the  past  few  years. 
Formerly  it  was  a  cent  a  pound;  now  it  is  two 
cents.  Eggs  were  four  cents  a  dozen;  now  they 
are  twelve.  The  salaries  of  the  native  pastors  and 
teachers  in  the  village  vary  from  ten  to  twenty 
rupees  a  month,  or  from  $40  to  $80  a  year.  And 
yet  every  one  of  these  teachers,  out  of  their  small 

[221] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

incomes,  with  families  to  support,  give  one-tenth 
to  support  the  church!  They  put  many  of  us  to 
shame  by  their  self-sacrifice  and  their  love  of  the 
church  which  means  so  much  to  them. 

' '  Jaffna  College  buildings  are  in  this  compound. 
These  will  always  be  memorable,  among  other 
things,  for  the  fact  that  the  first  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in 
Asia  was  established  here,  April  26,  1884,  when 
Frank  K.  Sanders  was  a  teacher.  This  event  is 
commemorated  by  a  tablet. 

"We  left  India  and  Ceylon  with  the  glad 
thought  that  the  work  of  our  mission  boards  is 
changing  the  nation;  that  the  results  are  wider 
and  deeper  than  we  had  been  expecting;  that  our 
missionaries  on  their  own  ground  are  a  wonderful 
group  of  men  and  women,  worthy  of  their  great 
predecessors  who  laid  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tian institutions  a  generation  or  two  ago.  The 
burden,  however,  is  greater  than  they  can  bear. 
Let  our  churches  strengthen  them  quickly.  There 
never  was  such  an  opportunity  before ;  there  never 
will  be  such  an  opportunity  again.  The  battle  is 
on  now.  It  is  no  time  for  men  to  be  skulking 
in  the  rear.  Let  us  put  up  the  money  and  the  men 
to  match  the  opportunity." 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Mr.  Capen  went 
on  his  mission  not  only  to  study  the  mission  fields 
but  also  to  deliver  a  message  on  peace.  He  was 
much  impressed  by  the  eagerness  with  which  men 
listened  to  this  message,  but  more  by  the  enthusi- 
asm with  which  he  was  sought  by  various  organi- 
zations as  a  speaker  on  this  question. 

[222] 


THE   JOURNEY  ABROAD 

"A  man  is  respected  here  in  the  East,"  he 
wrote,  "because  he  is  an  American.  We  have 
found  this  to  be  true  everywhere  and  it  is  a  source 
of  a  proper  patriotic  pride.  Our  country  from  its 
situation  has  been  free  from  the  entangling  alli- 
ances and  difficulties  of  European  nations;  what 
we  do  and  say  is  not  open  to  suspicion.  The  di- 
plomacy of  our  nation  for  the  most  part  has  been 
in  harmony  with  the  ' golden  rule,'  we  have 
' played  fair'  with  others:  cordial  expressions  of 
good  will  have  been  received  everywhere. 

"It  has  been  a  surprise  to  us  to  find  an  eager- 
ness to  listen  to  the  discussion  of  at  least  one  great 
international  question.  When  we  left  home  as 
one  of  a  commission  not  only  to  represent  the 
American  Board  at  the  centenary  exercises  at 
Bombay,  but  also  to  represent  the  World  Peace 
Foundation,  we  supposed  there  would  be  little  op- 
portunity to  interest  the  people  of  India  on  this 
latter  subject.  We  knew  China  and  Japan  were 
greatly  interested  and  were  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, to  receive  letters  asking  us  to  speak  on  world 
peace  in  these  nations.  But  we  did  not  realize  the 
interest  there  seems  to  be  in  this  subject  in  India. 
We  have  found  letters  and  telegrams  awaiting  us 
from  place  to  place,  asking  us  to  speak  upon  this 
question.  These  audiences  have  been  composed 
of  Hindus,  Mohammedans,  Parsee  students,  as 
well  as  Christian  leaders.  In  one  place  the  pre- 
siding officer  was  a  leader  in  a  wealthy  social  club, 
and  the  meeting  was  held  in  the  clubhouse ;  in  an- 
other he  was  the  principal  of  the  largest  Hindu 

[223] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

college,  with  1,200  students,  and  was  one  of  the 
two  leading  Indians  in  a  great  city.  In  another 
case  the  leader  was  a  prominent  Hindu  lawyer,  in 
another  a  judge  of  the  courts.  The  theme  chosen 
was  "International  Brotherhood,"  and  the  re- 
sponse of  the  audience  and  the  sympathetic  words 
of  those  presiding  indicated  their  deep  interest. 
They  were  glad  to  have  a  business  man  from  the 
United  States  discuss  the  question  with  them.  In 
every  case  the  audiences  were  educated  men,  so 
that  we  could  speak  to  them  in  English,  and  not 
through  an  interpreter,  as  was  necessary  with 
other  audiences  of  a  different  class. 

"This  idea  of  brotherhood,  and  that  nations 
should  find  a  way  to  live  as  brothers,  found  a  re- 
sponsive chord.  The  thought  that  nations  should 
give  up  their  suspicions  and  jealousies  and  reduce 
their  army  and  naval  expenses  seemed  to  be 
everywhere  heartily  approved. 

"It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  the  people  of  India 
have  such  respect  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  why  they  are  willing,  therefore,  to 
listen  courteously  to  one  of  her  citizens.  For  a 
hundred  years  our  nation  has  been  sending  to 
India  great  missionaries,  educators  and  physi- 
cians. The  American  Board  alone  has  invested  in 
the  work  $10,000,000  for  churches,  schools,  col- 
leges, hospitals,  dispensaries  and  industrial 
plants.  And  the  American  Board,  while  the  old- 
est organization,  is  but  one;  there  are  40  other 
American  and  Canadian  societies.  In  100  years 
probably  40,000  men  and  women  have  left  our 

[224] 


THE   JOURNEY  ABROAD 

shores  on  their  errand  to  uplift  and  bless  a  great 
nation.  In  times  of  famine  and  distress  we  have 
poured  out  our  money  generously  and  saved  tens 
of  thousands  from  starvation.  All  this  mighty 
work  has  been  done  freely  and  heartily  without 
the  slightest  hope  of  selfish  gain.  India  is  on  the 
other  side  of  the  world  from  us ;  we  are  not  con- 
nected with  her  in  any  way  politically,  and  our 
commercial  dealings  are  very  small.  The  unself- 
ishness of  this  work  has  won  the  hearts  of  many 
of  the  thoughtful  men  of  India.  It  was  a  pleasant 
experience  at  different  places  in  public  receptions 
to  have  the  head  of  the  municipality,  and  in  every 
case  a  Hindu,  pay  his  tribute  of  praise  for  what 
we  are  doing  for  them;  the  words  were  apparently 
sincere  and  spoken  without  reserve.  It  has  been 
a  great  satisfaction  for  me  to  say  that  the  thing 
in  which  we  at  home  take  pride  is  not  our  rapid 
growth  as  a  nation  nor  our  size  nor  our  wealth; 
it  is  not  our  manufactures,  nor  our  great  agricul- 
tural and  mineral  wealth.  Material  prosperity 
makes  neither  a  man  nor  a  nation  great.  The  thing 
of  which  we  are  most  proud  is  what  our  nation  has 
done  for  civil  and  religious  liberty;  that  to  many 
of  our  nation  there  is  a  word  larger  than  *  nation- 
alism,' and  that  is  '  internationalism, '  and  that 
we  desire  to  exemplify  real  'brotherhood'  to  every 
nation. 

"The  United  States  holds  a  proud  position  for 
what  she  has  done,  but  with  it  there  is  an  ever- 
increasing  opportunity  and  responsibility ;  in  fact, 
*  responsibility '  is  another  way  of  spelling  f  oppor- 

[225] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

tunity.'  It  ought  to  sober  every  American  and 
give  him  a  new  purpose  to  help  keep  our  nation 
true  to  the  highest  ideals,  not  for  her  own  sake 
alone,  but  to  uplift  the  world." 


[226] 


CHAFER  XIV 
THE  FUNDAMENTAL  MOTIVE 

By  this  time  the  impression  must  have  been 
made  upon  the  reader  that  few  men  of  any  genera- 
tion have  undertaken  such  a  variety  of  duties  and 
have  performed  all  of  them  so  well  as  did  Mr. 
Capen.  This  success  is  especially  remarkable  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  he  had  no  specialized  train- 
ing to  fit  him  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  of 
his  greatest  achievements. 

He  had  no  special  education,  for  example,  to 
equip  him  for  his  work  on  the  School  Committee, 
where  he  was  surrounded  by  some  of  the  best  edu- 
cators of  the  day,  yet  a  man  who  was  in  a  position 
to  know  declared  that  "  Boston  never  had  any 
three  men  in  her  history  who  ever  did  so  much  so 
well  in  three  years  as  he  had  done."  When  he 
went  to  the  Congregational  House  as  President 
of  the  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society  he 
was  only  a  young  business  man,  inexperienced  in 
the  arts  of  public  speech,  and  as  yet  but  little 
known  to  his  denomination.  Here  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  a  company  of  men  who  had  the  best 
that  colleges  and  theological  schools  could  offer. 
Yet  he  did  for  the  Society  what  others  had  failed 
to  do  and  in  a  very  few  years  became  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  figures  in  the  Congregational 
churches.  Many  of  his  predecessors  as  Presidents 

[227] 


of  the  American  Board  had  been  men  of  the  most 
conspicuous  ability,  men  who  had  dignified  the 
position  by  their  scholarship  and  adorned  it  by 
their  eloquence.  Only  two  years  had  intervened 
between  his  presidency  and  that  of  the  king  of 
extemporaneous  preachers,  Dr.  Eichard  Storrs, 
and  he  followed  immediately  that  polished  and 
gifted  preacher  and  rare  spirit,  Dr.  Charles  M. 
Lamson.  No  one  ever  thought  of  Mr.  Capen  as 
either  a  scholar  or  an  orator,  as  compared  with 
these  predecessors.  He  possessed  neither  their 
academic  polish,  their  breadth  of  learning,  nor 
their  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  theological 
and  philosophical  tendencies  of  his  day.  Yet  no 
man  in  that  high  position  has  ever  been  more 
respected  by  the  constituency  of  the  American 
Board  than  he,  and  probably  none  ever  accom- 
plished so  much  for  the  Board  as  did  this  layman 
who  rose  from  the  ranks  with  only  a  high  school 
education. 

One  is  compelled  to  ask  what  was  the  secret  of 
his  power.  Yet  the  more  intimately  one  knew 
Mr.  Capen  the  more  keenly  did  he  realize  the  diffi- 
culty of  answering  this  question.  It  is  easy  for 
men  to  name  certain  conspicuous  traits  which 
were  evident  to  those  who  served  with  him  on  com- 
mittees. There  were  characteristics  which  made 
him  one  of  the  most  ideal  committeemen  that  ever 
sat  about  a  table.  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  real  secret  of  his  influence  was  to  be  found  in 
these  qualities.  Deeper  in  his  personality  there 
lay  something  which  affected  men,  something  as 

[228] 


THE   FUNDAMENTAL   MOTIVE 

difficult  to  define  as  the  subtle  influence  that 
touches  the  earth  in  spring  and  makes  the  flowers 
open  and  the  birds  sing — a  spiritual  element  that 
vanishes  when  one  tries  to  imprison  it  with  the 
pen,  and  that  will  scarcely  speak  through  the 
rough  medium  of  words. 

This  mystic  quality  in  his  character  is  touched 
by  Mrs.  Frank  Mason  North,  one  of  the  trustees 
of  Wellesley  College :  ' '  Now  and  then  against  the 
background  of  our  common  humanity  one  life 
shines  forth  with  such  radiance  that  by  its  light  we 
discover  anew  what  God  meant  us  all  to  be.  Such 
a  life  manifests  a  genius  for  spirituality.  The 
purity  and  simplicity  of  its  consecration,  its  aloof- 
ness from  tangling  alliances,  the  swiftness  of  its 
response  to  the  Divine  Spirit  and  to  human  need 
becomes  to  us  a  revelation  of  the  power  of  God  in 
the  human  soul.  Through  it  God  is  able  to  speak 
to  us  of  his  ideals  for  his  children  in  the  terms  of 
a  human  character." 

This  is  probably  as  clear  an  expression  as  can 
be  given  of  the  ennobling  influence  which  seemed 
to  radiate  from  Mr.  Capen's  life,  exerting  a 
strange  power  over  those  who  knew  him.  It  had 
its  basis  in  his  strong  religious  faith.  He  be- 
lieved that  conscious  fellowship  with  God  is  the 
foundation  of  every  strong  life.  He  held  this  not 
only  as  an  article  of  his  intellectual  belief  but  as 
a  part  of  his  most  vital  experience.  In  very  truth 
he  lived  with  God — in  the  constant  consciousness 
of  the  Divine  Presence — and  in  the  absolute  faith 
that  he  could  accomplish  nothing  without  divine 

[229] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

aid.  It  was  a  faith  that  gave  to  all  who  met  him 
a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  life,  that  made  men  feel 
that  they  could  do  things  they  had  never  dreamed 
of,  and  gave  them  a  conviction  that  anything  less 
than  the  highest  was  unworthy  of  them. 

One  of  the  most  certain  facts  about  Mr.  Capen's 
career  is  that  he  never  sought  any  position.  He 
was  never  an  office-seeker  nor  was  he  looking  for 
honors.  Yet  he  was  the  most  outstanding  figure 
in  any  gathering  he  attended.  Men  felt  that  he 
had  something  they  needed,  that  he  lived  a  life 
which  in  some  way  gave  dignity  and  power  to  any 
position  that  he  filled.  The  movement  of  which 
he  was  a  part  turned  to  him  naturally  as  its  leader, 
for  there  was  no  other  who  could  lend  it  such 
grace  as  he.  ' l  He  glorified  whatever  he  touched, ' ' 
said  one  man  who  knew  him  well.  This  phrase 
almost  perfectly  expresses  the  secret  of  his  lead- 
ership and  states  the  reason  why  he  was  eagerly 
sought  by  many  a  cause  that  wanted  to  make  its 
appeal  to  a  New  England  audience  or  to  the  wider 
interests  of  the  Church. 

This  religious  element  of  his  life  was  as  much 
the  secret  of  his  power  in  things  commonly  called 
secular  as  in  his  distinctively  church  activities. 
Those  who  knew  him  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Committee,  as  the  leader  of  the  Municipal 
League  and  as  a  vital  force  in  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  speak  of  his  grace,  his  gentleness  and 
his  broad  sympathies,  but  these  were  only  fruits 
of  his  humility  before  God  and  his  love  for  his 
fellow  men,  born  of  his  devotion  to  Jesus  Christ. 

[230] 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL   MOTIVE 

His  nature  was  fundamentally  religious  and  his 
character  was  absolutely  the  fruit  of  his  faith. 
He  was  not  a  gentleman  who  was  religious;  he 
was  a  gentleman  because  he  was  religious.  He 
was  full  of  grace  because  his  life  was  full  of  the 
love  of  God.  His  religion  was  never  offensive. 
He  never  thrust  it  upon  men;  it  radiated  from 
him.  Those  who  heard  him  speak  felt  that  his 
words  were  not  those  of  one  who  lives  by  bread 
alone,  and  those  who  were  closely  associated  with 
him  realized  that  all  his  motives  had  their  origin 
in  a  realm  where  few  men  dwell. 

Mr.  Capen  always  held  to  the  theory  that  men — 
even  the  most  worldly  of  men — respond  most 
readily  to  the  moral  and  religious  note  in  public 
addresses.  He  was  impatient  when  public  speak- 
ers tried  to  tickle  the  ear  of  their  hearers  by  funny 
stories.  He  thought  it  not  only  a  waste  of  pre- 
cious time  but  an  insult  to  the  intelligence  of  men. 
They  are  ready,  he  believed,  to  listen  to  something 
better,  and  to  feed  them  with  sop  when  they  are 
waiting  for  meat,  seemed  to  him  an  unpardonable 
sin. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts 
Peace  Society  one  of  the  best  known  of  Eng- 
land's scholars  presented  the  economic  argument 
in  favor  of  arbitration  instead  of  war.  Then  Al- 
fred Noyes,  the  young  English  poet,  presented 
with  much  force  and  grace  the  moral  and  religious 
arguments,  fairly  hypnotizing  his  audience  and 
calling  forth  a  most  enthusiastic  response.  As  he 
was  returning  from  the  meeting,  Mr.  Capen  re- 

[231] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

marked,  "It  is  that  argument  which  reaches  men 
every  time.  They  respond  to  it  as  they  do  to  no 
other."  He  himself  never  spoke  without  sound- 
ing the  highest  note.  He  never  wasted  his  time  in 
cheap  stories  while  making  an  approach.  He 
plunged  into  the  very  heart  of  his  theme  in  the 
first  minute,  speaking  out  of  his  consecrated  life 
with  such  earnestness  that  his  audiences  not  only 
listened  respectfully  but  also  responded  heartily. 
During  the  last  years  of  his  life  Mr.  Capen  fol- 
lowed the  principle  of  speaking  upon  distinctly 
religious  topics  before  gatherings  of  men  who  rep- 
resented wholly  secular  interests.  He  was  con- 
stantly receiving  invitations  to  address  men's 
clubs,  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  various  other 
organizations  for  civic  improvement,  but  he  re- 
fused to  accept  them  unless  he  could  speak  upon 
some  of  those  themes  which  were  dearest  to  his 
heart.  As  a  result  many  gatherings  of  men  lis- 
tened to  addresses  bespeaking  deeper  interest  in 
foreign  missions,  even  though  they  had  never 
manifested  any  interest  in  this  subject,  and  had 
sometimes  even  referred  to  it  with  scorn.  If  Mr. 
Capen  did  not  give  the  entire  time  of  an  address 
to  this  theme  it  was  sure  to  be  introduced  before 
he  concluded.  The  cause  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  com- 
ing of  brotherhood,  or  the  application  of  some 
phase  of  the  teaching  of  the  Nazarene  to  human 
affairs,  was  sure  to  be  included  in  his  message. 
Men,  though  often  not  avowed  disciples,  listened 
to  him  with  respect  and  were  won  to  active 
sympathy. 

[232] 


THE   FUNDAMENTAL   MOTIVE 

Mr.  Capen  believed  that  clergymen  lose  great 
opportunities  when  they  go  before  secular  gather- 
ings and  make  an  effort  merely  to  please  instead 
of  endeavoring  to  raise  the  ideals  of  their  hearers. 
More  than  once  large  companies  of  men  have 
laughed  and  applauded  at  the  jokes  and  brilliancy 
of  some  speaker  who  used  half  an  hour  in  enter- 
taining them,  and  then  have  sat  with  serious  but 
sympathetic  faces,  without  a  ripple  of  laughter, 
listening  to  this  layman  as  he  presented  the  great 
work  of  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  address  the  generous  ap- 
plause which  he  received  showed  that  his  audi- 
ences appreciated  his  fine  courage. 

Mr.  Capen  had  absolutely  no  use  for  the  old 
rule  that  when  you  are  in  Rome  you  must  do  as 
the  Romans  do.  He  despised  that  worst  form  of 
unbelief  abroad  in  the  world  today,  a  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  the  moral  ideal;  he  deplored  the  ease 
with  which  men  desert  it  and  resort  to  the  cheap 
ways  of  the  world  to  attain  their  ends.  He  be- 
lieved that  right  was  might  and  that  if  men  would 
be  true  to  their  idealism  it  would  win.  Writing 
in  the  "Christian  Endeavor  World,"  he  gave  an 
illustration  of  this  principle  from  his  own  life:  "I 
had  an  experience  years  ago  upon  the  School  Com- 
mittee, when  a  number  of  gentlemen  came  to  me 
and  urged  that  I  should  use  my  influence  in  the 
appointment  of  a  janitor  for  a  schoolhouse. 
Their  one  argument  for  this  appointment  was  that 
he  was  a  'good  worker'  in  the  ward,  and  his  ap- 
pointment would  be  helpful  for  party  interests. 

[233] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

When  I  told  them  that  this  argument  did  not  count 
now,  and  gave  them  to  understand  that  there  were 
higher  considerations,  they  looked  at  me  in  bewil- 
derment. They  did  not  seem  to  understand  the 
alphabet  of  such  a  language.  And  yet  my  experi- 
ence has  shown  that  in  such  cases,  if  one  is  courte- 
ous, men  will  soon  see  the  force  of  his  position, 
and  underneath  will  respect  him  for  it." 

We  sometimes  find  more  light  in  the  life  of  a 
good  man  on  some  controverted  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture than  we  do  in  all  the  commentaries,  or  in 
the  wise  arguments  of  the  theologians.  In  Mr. 
Capen's  faith  in  the  might  of  right  we  find  more 
illumination  on  the  old  text  which  has  been 
the  source  of  such  heated  controversies  between 
Protestants  and  Catholics  than  in  volumes  of 
their  dry-as-dust  books :  *  *  Thou  art  Peter,  and 
upon  this  rock  I  shall  build  my  church;  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. ' ' 

He  so  believed  the  truth  in  this  passage  that  he 
dared  to  stand  with  a  few  men  against  some  pub- 
lic wrong  where  most  men  despaired,  remained 
at  home  and  gave  the  host  of  wickedness  their 
way.  He  once  wrote : ' '  Even  one  or  two  men  may 
have  great  influence  for  good,  as  I  have  learned 
from  an  experience  which  occurred  so  many  years 
ago  that  it  may  be  spoken  of  now  quite  imper- 
sonally. There  was  a  plan  on  foot  by  a  lot  of  very 
selfish  politicians  to  control  public  interests  for 
their  own  ends.  A  public  meeting  was  held,  and 
I  was  called  upon  to  preside.  A  gentleman  of  high 
integrity  was  appointed  to  act  as  clerk,  and  then 

[234] 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL   MOTIVE 

the  battle  began.  The  selfish  men  tried  to  accom- 
plish their  end,  but  they  were  entirely  defeated, 
though  the  chairman,  as  they  themselves  admit- 
ted, treated  them  with  absolute  fairness.  It  tran- 
spired afterwards  that  they  had  planned  to  cap- 
ture that  meeting  in  furtherance  of  their  own 
schemes.  When  upbraided  afterwards  by  some 
of  their  followers,  they  said,  'How  could  we  suc- 
ceed when  that  presiding  officer  was  watching  us 
all  the  time  1 '  The  chairman  and  the  clerk  of  that 
meeting  prevented  a  public  wrong. ' ' 


[235] 


CHAPTER  XV 
CHARACTERISTICS 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  upon  Mr.  Capen's  reli- 
gious nature  because  apart  from  this  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  understand  the  man.  It  would  be  easy  to 
write  a  biography  setting  him  forth  as  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  who  did  much  good,  utilizing  to 
the  utmost  every  talent  with  which  he  had  been 
endowed.  It  would  even  be  possible  to  picture 
him  as  a  man  who  was  of  great  service  to  mankind, 
and  who  was  intensely  religious,  dividing  the  two 
sides  of  his  nature.  Either  view  would  fail  to 
give  us  the  man.  He  was  a  Christian  first  and  last 
and  he  was  everything  else  because  he  was  a 
Christian. 

Out  of  this  life  of  devotion  to  Jesus  Christ  grew 
certain  characteristics  which  made  him  one  of  the 
exceedingly  useful  men  produced  by  the  Church 
in  his  generation.  Among  the  most  conspicuous 
of  these  was  the  element  of  grace.  ' '  That  beauti- 
ful courtesy,"  wrote  Mrs.  North,  " which  is  the 
very  flower  of  Christian  character,  the  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  the  grace  of  Christ  within, 
made  fellowship  with  him,  even  in  the  most  labo- 
rious hours,  a  delight."  He  never  lost  his  pa- 
tience and  never  showed  any  sign  of  irritation 
when  serving  as  a  presiding  officer  or  on  a  com- 
mittee. He  listened  to  every  argument,  gave  every 

[236] 


CHAEACTEEISTICS 

party  to  a  controversy  equal  consideration,  and 
made  every  person  feel  that  he  was  absolutely 
fair.  Though  his  desk  in  his  store  on  "Washington 
Street  was  always  piled  high  with  letters  waiting 
for  an  answer,  or  business  needing  attention,  no 
man  ever  sought  him  there  who  was  not  received 
with  courtesy.  He  had  that  peculiar  gift  of  mak- 
ing every  man  feel  that  he  was  especially  glad  to 
see  him,  that  he  was  interested  in  all  his  affairs, 
and  that  he  stood  ready  to  serve  him  in  any  pos- 
sible way. 

Every  Sunday  morning  when  he  was  at  home 
Mr.  Capen  stood  at  the  end  of  the  aisle  in  his 
church  and  shook  hands  with  people  as  they 
passed  from  the  auditorium.  Probably  more  than 
one  minister  in  the  church  has  felt  that  Mr.  Capen 
was  the  best  antidote  to  a  poor  sermon  that  could 
possibly  be  found.  A  warm  handshake,  a  smile 
that  lit  up  other  faces  as  by  contagion,  a  few 
words — "I  am  glad  to  see  you;  hope  you  are  all 
well" — sent  scores  of  people  from  the  church  feel- 
ing that  life  was  worth  while,  even  though  the  ser- 
mon may  have  failed  of  its  purpose. 

After  the  church  service  men  and  women  in 
trouble  and  those  seeking  advice  gathered  about 
him.  He  not  only  had  time  to  see  them  but  even 
made  them  feel  that  it  was  a  privilege  to  serve 
them — that  they  had  really  conferred  a  favor 
upon  him  in  seeking  him  out.  While  he  never 
permitted  any  man  to  trespass  upon  his  time,  pos- 
sessing an  unusually  gracious  way  of  ending  the 
conference  when  the  business  was  done,  yet  when 

[237] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

the  one  seeking  advice  went  from  his  presence 
it  was  with  the  feeling  that  of  all  men  on  the  earth 
Mr.  Capen  was  especially  glad  to  have  seen  him. 
This  capacity  for  cordiality  is  a  gift  which  we 
usually  associate  with  insincerity  and  hypocrisy, 
the  sham  courtesy  that  arises  in  polite  society  or 
develops  in  men  seeking  power  and  influence.  But 
no  one  ever  associated  this  gift  in  Mr.  Capen  with 
insincerity.  It  arose  out  of  the  unusual  grace  of 
his  manner  and  his  eagerness  to  serve  every  man 
in  need. 

He  was  absolutely  forgetful  of  himself  so  long 
as  there  was  any  service  he  could  render  others. 
This  element  of  his  character  found  beautiful  il- 
lustration in  what  was  one  of  the  most  trying 
hours  of  his  life.  In  his  last  years  he  was  called 
upon  to  bear  a  great  disappointment  and  sorrow. 
When  he  was  in  the  midst  of  it,  when  his  heart 
was  heavy  and  he  was  bearing  the  sting  from  one 
whom  he  had  tried  to  help  but  who  had  proven 
himself  ungrateful,  he  was  sought  for  advice  and 
comfort  by  a  man  to  whose  family  he  had  been  a 
lifelong  friend  and  counselor.  A  great  sorrow 
had  come  upon  them  and  Mr.  Capen  was  naturally 
the  one  to  give  advice.  He  spent  the  evening  with 
this  man,  comforting,  advising  and  praying,  as 
though  he  had  not  a  care  of  his  own,  until  it  came 
time  for  the  man  to  go.  Then,  putting  his  arm 
around  the  man's  shoulders,  he  drew  him  close 
and,  calling  him  by  name,  said,  "I,  too,  am  bear- 
ing this  night  the  greatest  burden  of  my  life. "  It 
was  said  not  to  cast  his  load  upon  another  but  to 

[238] 


CHARACTERISTICS 

give  the  man  the  consciousness  of  fellowship  in 
suffering. 

Indeed,  so  far  as  his  own  troubles  were  con- 
cerned, as  is  often  true  of  such  men,  outside  of  the 
comfort  of  his  family  he  had  to  bear  them  alone. 
Men  were  so  accustomed  to  rest  upon  him  that  it 
never  occurred  to  them  that  they  might  enter  into 
his  sorrows  and  carry  his  burdens.  So  far  as  his 
life  was  concerned,  there  was  no  man  of  his  com- 
munity about  whom  less  was  known.  He  was  in  a 
high  sense  an  isolated  and  lonely  figure,  minister- 
ing but  not  being  ministered  unto,  comforting  but 
not  being  comforted. 

The  second  element  which  contributed  to  his 
success  was  his  capacity  for  hard  work.  The  old 
expression,  "a  self-made  man,"  often  contains  as 
much  error  as  truth.  So  many  factors  enter  into 
the  building  of  a  man,  largely  forces  contributed 
by  society,  that  at  best  a  self-made  man  is  the  one 
who  has  the  will  to  utilize  the  opportunities  within 
his  reach,  the  man  who  has  the  moral  courage  to 
make  the  most  of  his  inheritance  and  of  the  ele- 
ments offered  to  him  by  his  fellow  men. 

Mr.  Capen  was  a  conspicuous  illustration  of 
this  type  of  man.  Not  born  as  a  genius  towering 
in  intellect  or  imagination  above  his  fellow  men, 
a  meteor  shooting  through  a  dimly-lighted  sky,  he 
had  through  his  life  a  physical  equipment  below 
the  average.  Mentally  he  was  not  brilliant  above 
his  fellows,  either  in  his  power  to  create  great 
ideas  or  in  his  ability  to  conceive  plans  that  were 
to  change  the  destiny  of  empires.  His  public  ut- 

[239] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

terances  were  not  those  of  a  heaven-born  orator, 
destined  to  be  read  by  future  generations  or  to  be 
seed  germs  out  of  which  are  to  grow  great 
schemes  of  thought,  nor  were  they  explosives  that 
are  to  cause  revolutions  in  the  realm  of  society  or 
politics.  He  was  only  one  of  the  great  brother- 
hood, enjoying  like  gifts  and  powers  with  the 
great  mass  of  mankind,  but  he  was  unlike  many 
of  his  fellows  in  that  he  possessed  the  heaven- 
born  capacity  of  utilizing  to  the  utmost  extent 
every  power  nature  and  society  had  placed  within 
his  reach. 

After  all  our  sentiments  are  reduced  to  the 
realm  of  fact,  it  is  this  element  that  creates  that 
peculiar  character  we  call  a  genius.  Occasionally 
there  is  one  set  apart  from  his  mother's  womb 
who  is  to  write  lines  that  will  be  an  inspiration  to 
all  time,  speak  words  that  will  be  a  model  for  all 
aspiring  orators  or  catch  the  symphonies  from 
the  spheres  that  will  stir  the  emotions  of  all  suc- 
ceeding generations.  On  the  whole,  however,  a 
genius  is  a  man  with  a  capacity  for  hard  work  who 
utilizes  every  minute  of  his  time  and  who  turns 
every  power  within  his  reach  to  the  achievement 
of  some  great  end. 

In  this  sense  Mr.  Capen  was  a  genius  among 
the  men  of  his  time.  His  life  has  been  an  inspira- 
tion to  the  entire  religious  family  and  his  conduct 
and  accomplishments  have  placed  him  in  that 
unique  position  where  he  was  justly  called  the 
leading  layman  of  his  city  because  of  his  ability 
to  turn  every  faculty  with  which  nature  and  soci- 

[240] 


CHAEACTERISTICS 

ety  had  endowed  him  toward  the  uplift  of  his  fel- 
low men  along  some  line  of  their  growth. 

Not  only  was  he  capable  of  doing  sustained  hard 
work  but  he  had  an  unusual  faculty  of  utilizing 
every  minute  of  his  time.  Only  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore sailing  on  his  journey  to  the  Orient,  he  said 
one  evening  to  a  friend,  while  on  his  way  home 
from  his  office,  "I  have  had  today  an  engagement 
every  fifteen  minutes. ' '  This  was  not  an  unusual 
experience  with  him;  but  to  be  able  to  block  out 
time  in  this  way — to  meet  an  engagement  and 
without  permitting  men  to  rob  you  of  your  time  to 
end  it  and  then  pass  to  the  next — is  a  gift  pos- 
sessed by  few  men. 

Even  his  Sundays  were  regulated  by  rule.  He 
rose  and  ate  breakfast,  after  which  he  looked  over 
the  lesson  for  his  Men's  Bible  Class.  Then  with 
his  family  he  went  to  church.  If  he  had  visitors 
in  his  home  they  were  invited  to  go  with  him,  but 
they  could  never  keep  him  and  his  family  from 
divine  worship.  Neither  did  he  ever  take  them 
to  another  church  to  hear  some  famous  preacher. 
After  the  morning  service  he  taught  his  Bible 
Class.  Then  followed  his  dinner  and  an  hour  and 
a  half  of  rest.  At  four  o'clock  he  was  called  by 
some  member  of  the  household,  when  he  arose  and 
started  for  two  hours  of  calling  through  the  par- 
ish, either  on  members  of  his  Class  who  had  been 
absent  or  upon  some  new  family  who  had  just 
moved  into  the  parish,  or  on  some  person  who  was 
sick  or  in  need.  At  six  o'clock  the  family  gath- 
ered for  a  lunch,  after  which  he  spent  the  evening 

[241] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

in  preparing  the  next  Sunday's  lesson  for  his 
Bible  Class. 

To  say  that  he  never  played  would  not  be  quite 
true.  He  found  not  only  supreme  delight  but 
pleasure  in  his  work  and  his  home  was  a  veritable 
playground.  No  finer  tribute  could  be  paid  to  his 
joyous  companionship  with  his  children  than  is  to 
be  found  in  the  dedication  of  "  Social  Progress 
in  Mission  Lands,"  written  by  his  son,  Edward 
Warren  Capen. 

"TO   MY  FATHER 
THE    IDOL    OF    MY    BOYHOOD 
r      -.  ,    ,  COMPANION  OF  MY  MANHOOD 

ALWAYS  LIVING  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  WORLD 
,    PASSIONATELY  DEVOTED  TO  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 
IN  ADVOCACY  OF  PEACE 

IN  CIVIC  REFORM 

IN  MISSIONARY  LEADERSHIP 

WHO  WENT  HOME  FROM  THE  FIRING-LINE/' 

Not  only  was  he  blessed  with  a  wife  who  had  the 
genius  for  conducting  the  household  so  that  there 
was  no  friction  or  disturbance  in  its  manage- 
ment, no  petty  cares  left  to  worry  or  annoy,  but 
he  was  the  head  of  a  home  where  each  studied  to 
make  the  other  happy  and  to  lighten  the  other's 
burden.  Added  to  this  was  a  fine  sense  of  humor, 
that  divine  gift  which  enables  some  to  laugh  when 
others  weep  and  which  enables  some  to  discover 
delightful  vistas  all  along  the  way  where  others 
are  only  pricked  by  thorns.  The  dinner-table  was 

[242] 


CHARACTEEISTICS 

a  place  for  story-telling  and  there  was  scarcely  a 
night  after  the  day's  work  when  the  home  did  not 
ring  with  laughter  over  a  good  story  some  mem- 
ber of  the  family  had  found  during  the  day. 

Yet  no  one  could  really  think  of  Mr.  Capen  as 
attending  a  football  game  between  the  colleges, 
much  less  a  game  of  baseball  between  teams  of 
the  American  League,  not  because  he  disapproved 
of  these  forms  of  recreation  but  because  he  was 
too  busy  to  use  his  time  in  these  ways.  He  always 
had  more  duties  waiting  for  him  than  he  could 
perform  and  he  used  every  minute,  including  holi- 
days, which  were  the  days  when  he  prepared  many 
of  his  addresses,  to  contribute  toward  the  results 
he  hoped  to  accomplish. 

He  once  said  to  a  company  of  ministers :  '  *  The 
pulpits  would  have  more  power  if  the  preachers 
had  more  method.  I  have  known  cases  where  men 
wasted  their  time  the  first  of  the  week,  to  be 
driven  at  the  end  almost  to  distraction.  Such 
shiftlessness  would  ruin  any  modern  business. 
My  wife  can  pack  twice  as  much  into  a  trunk  as  I 
can,  for  she  knows  how  to  economize  the  space. 
The  man  who  methodically  and  systematically 
economizes  his  time  can  pack  twice  as  much  work 
into  a  year.  The  work  of  the  ministry  is  too  noble 
to  be  injured  by  carelessness. ' '  No  man  ever  fol- 
lowed more  faithfully  his  preaching  on  this  point 
than  Mr.  Capen,  and  this  accounts  to  a  large  de- 
gree for  his  success.  He  used  all  his  capital  all 
the  time. 

Another  marked  element  in  his  success  was  his 
[243] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

ability  to  say,  "This  one  thing  I  do,"  and  to  give 
no  thought  to  anything  which  did  not  contribute  to 
the  purpose  he  had  before  him.  When  he  was  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee  that  work  ab- 
sorbed his  attention.  All  his  reading  was  on 
school  problems,  and  whenever  he  visited  another 
city  he  utilized  his  time  in  interviews  and  observa- 
tions that  would  add  to  his  knowledge.  When  he 
was  active  in  the  Municipal  League  he  read  the 
best  books  on  the  city  problem  and  acquainted 
himself  with  the  best  thought  of  reformers. 

He  probably  knew  the  opinions  of  more  men  con- 
cerning the  issues  with  which  he  was  struggling 
than  many  who  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
questions,  because  he  lost  no  time  and  wasted  no 
opportunities  to  make  himself  thoroughly  in- 
formed. There  was  only  one  thing  which  made 
him  hesitate  to  accept  the  Presidency  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board,  and  that  was  his  lack  of  knowledge 
of  the  mission  fields  and  the  methods  of  work  of 
the  missionary  societies.  He  had  always  been 
deeply  interested  in  foreign  missions  and  he  had 
been  a  liberal  giver  to  this  work  but,  absorbed  in 
other  duties,  he  had  given  little  time  to  the  prob- 
lems confronting  the  Board.  When,  however,  he 
decided  to  accept  the  Presidency  he  centered  his 
attention  on  these  problems  and  by  his  reading, 
observations  and  study,  became  one  of  the  best- 
informed  men  on  the  missionary  problem  that  this 
generation  produced.  Concentration  was  one  of 
the  secrets  of  his  power,  and  by  shutting  out 
everything  from  his  life  that  did  not  contribute  to 

[244] 


CHARACTERISTICS 

his  usefulness  he  became  an  unusually  effective 
man  in  whatever  he  undertook. 

He  used  to  say  that  he  could  drive  work  but 
when  work  drove  him  it  wore  upon  him.  As  a  re- 
sult, with  his  unusually  methodical  life,  he  seldom 
reached  a  place  where  he  was  crowded  by  his 
tasks,  but  planned  his  activities  so  far  ahead  that 
he  wTas  continually  driving  his  work.  Scarcely  did 
he  complete  one  annual  address  for  the  American 
Board  before  he  began  to  plan  the  next.  First,  he 
chose  his  theme,  and  then  his  reading  during  the 
year,  his  conversation  and  observation  were  made 
to  contribute  to  it.  He  would  talk  with  every  man 
he  found  who  knew  anything  about  the  problem 
with  which  he  was  to  deal,  and  weeks  before  the 
time  to  deliver  the  message  he  would  have  much 
more  material  than  he  could  use.  It  was  this  fact, 
doubtless,  which  accounted  for  the  impression,  al- 
ways left  upon  his  hearers,  that  he  had  much  more 
to  say  than  his  time  limit  would  permit.  After 
the  collecting  of  material  came  the  process  of 
writing,  which  was  always  done  carefully.  When 
completed  the  addresses  were  usually  submitted  to 
critics,  especially  for  the  purpose  of  eliminating 
anything  that  might  make  an  undesirable  impres- 
sion, for,  after  all  his  hard  work,  the  material  of 
his  address  was  only  of  secondary  importance.  He 
had  an  object  to  accomplish,  and  his  matter  was 
only  a  means  to  this  end.  Each  important  speech 
he  was  to  make  on  his  journey  through  the  mission 
fields  was  carefully  written  and  it  was  forwarded 
to  leading  missionaries  in  India,  China  and  Japan 

[245] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

with  the  special  request  that  anything  might  be 
penciled  which  was  not  fitted  to  the  Oriental  mind. 
This  was  especially  true  of  the  address  on  peace 
he  was  to  have  given  in  Japan,  where  he  was  very 
anxious  not  to  sound  any  discordant  note. 

This  habit  of  preparedness  manifested  itself  in 
the  smallest  details  of  his  life  and  in  the  most 
unexpected  places.  Even  when  he  was  called  sud- 
denly to  make  an  address  he  almost  invariably 
gave  the  impression  that  he  was  an  easy  speaker 
and  a  man  so  familiar  with  political,  civic  or  reli- 
gious subjects  that  he  could  talk  without  prepara- 
tion. Nothing,  however,  could  be  further  from 
the  fact.  He  seldom  spoke  without  the  most  care- 
ful planning.  If  he  was  to  attend  any  meeting 
where  he  thought  there  was  the  least  possibility 
that  he  might  be  called  upon  to  express  his  opin- 
ion, he  either  wrote  out  in  full  what  he  wanted  to 
say  or  else  made  headings  that  he  could  follow. 
This  habit  became  so  much  a  part  of  his  life  that 
there  were  few  times  when  he  was  ever  asked  to 
speak  that  he  was  not  ready  to  deliver  a  message. 

This  habit  of  preparation  found  no  better  illus- 
tration in  the  life  of  Mr.  Capen  than  in  the  talks 
he  gave  at  the  mid-week  prayer  service  of  his 
church.  Men  who  attended  these  meetings  will 
remember  these  weekly  talks  as  among  the  most 
helpful  utterances  which  came  from  his  busy  life. 
They  usually  occupied  about  five  minutes — seldom 
more  than  ten — and  they  never  failed  to  produce 
a  spiritual  impression  or  to  convey  some  valuable 
information.  But  they  were  never  extempora- 

[246] 


CHAEACTERISTICS 

neous.  It  was  seldom  that  he  trusted  himself 
to  the  inspiration  of  the  hour.  Each  Friday 
night,  the  evening  for  his  prayer  service,  after  he 
had  eaten  his  dinner,  he  would  go  by  himself  for 
a  few  minutes  to  think  over  the  subject  that  was 
to  be  discussed,  carefully  arranging  what  he 
wanted  to  present,  and  then  he  would  go  to  the 
meeting  with  the  consciousness  that  he  had  a  mes- 
sage. If  half  a  dozen  of  the  strongest  men  of 
every  church  would  follow  the  same  habit,  the 
prayer  service  would  be  the  most  helpful  meet- 
ing in  the  life  of  the  Church. 


[  247  ] 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  LAST  DAYS,  AND  EESUME 

There  can  be  no  satisfaction  in  dwelling  at 
length  on  the  incident  of  death.  It  was  never  a 
question  upon  which  Mr.  Capen  placed  great  em- 
phasis. Life  was  the  thing  of  importance  to  him, 
and  it  is  his  life  that  will  be  remembered.  He  al- 
ways regarded  death  as  the  opening  of  a  door 
through  which  man  would  pass,  taking  with  him 
the  good  or  the  evil  he  had  done.  True,  he  consid- 
ered it  the  most  important  door  through  which  a 
man  would  go,  but  the  seriousness  of  the  entrance 
came  not  from  the  door  itself  but  from  the  life 
that  had  been  lived  before  the  entrance  was  made, 
from  the  material  that  had  been  woven  into  the 
texture  of  character  that  one  would  carry  into  the 
presence  of  the  just  Judge.  The  chief  concern 
with  him  was  in  living  right  on  the  earth.  The 
final  result  was  in  the  care  of  one  who  knew  all 
things  and  would  deal  with  the  departed  more 
wisely  than  man  possibly  could.  Our  only  reason 
for  adding  this  chapter  is  that  we  may  answer 
certain  questions  which  are  naturally  raised  by 
the  sudden  ending  of  a  life  which  seemed  to  be  in 
the  very  height  of  its  usefulness. 

The  end  came  very  quickly.  On  Sunday,  Jan- 
uary 18,  Mr.  Capen  spoke  in  three  churches  in 
Foochow.  In  the  afternoon  he  wrote  a  long  letter 

[248] 


THE   LAST   DAYS 

to  his  Bible  Class  in  Jamaica  Plain.  Monday  was 
a  hard  day.  He  rose  at  three-thirty  A.  M.  and  went 
with  the  missionaries  to  dedicate  a  new  church 
at  Diong  Loh,  yet  after  a  long  day  of  tramping, 
speech-making  and  sight-seeing  he  seemed  no 
more  tired  than  the  younger  men.  He  enjoyed  it 
all  and  on  Tuesday  was  especially  helpful  at  a 
conference  about  the  proposed  Union  University, 
encouraging  the  workers  to  believe  that  their 
project  could  be  accomplished. 

He  sailed  for  Shanghai  on  January  22,  and  had 
a  very  comfortable  trip  in  the  best  boat  on  the 
line.  There  was  no  hard  wind  and  the  sea  was 
fairly  calm.  He  reached  Shanghai  Saturday 
morning  about  ten  o'clock  and  went  directly  to 
Mr.  Evans'  Missionary  Home.  In  the  afternoon, 
with  his  family  and  Dr.  Strong,  he  attended  a  re- 
ception at  the  International  Institute,  where  he 
spoke  on  peace.  Sunday  morning  he  gave  an  ad- 
dress at  the  Union  Church,  and  never  spoke  bet- 
ter. In  a  letter  written  just  before  reaching 
Shanghai  he  told  how  happy  he  and  the  others  of 
the  party  were  that  they  were  so  far  on  their 
journey  and  were  so  well.  They  were  planning  to 
spend  the  week  in  Shanghai  and  he  was  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  the  China  Continuation  Committee 
on  the  thirtieth. 

Monday  morning  after  breakfast  he  had  a 
chill,  fainted  and  then  had  a  fever.  They  called 
one  of  the  best  doctors,  who  thought  all  he  needed 
was  a  rest.  On  Wednesday  he  was  removed  to  the 
Victoria  Nursing  Home,  at  the  doctor's  solicita- 

[249] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

tion  in  order  that  he  might  have  better  care.  He 
did  not  anticipate  anything  serious  until  Thurs- 
day morning,  when  the  symptoms  of  pneumonia 
developed.  Even  then  there  was  only  a  slight 
affection  in  one  lung  and  he  spoke  very  encourag- 
ingly. Thursday  afternoon  Mrs.  Capen  and  her 
daughter,  after  spending  an  hour  and  a  half  with 
Mr.  Capen,  attended  a  reception  for  the  United 
States  Consul  General,  who  was  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Capen.  That  afternoon  Mr.  Capen  spoke  of  their 
journey  as  the  Lord's  trip  and  expressed  the  be- 
lief that  all  would  be  right.  He  did  not  realize  how 
sick  he  was.  He  grew  much  worse  during  the  last 
part  of  the  afternoon  and  the  family  were  given 
rooms  in  the  hospital.  They  sat  by  the  bedside  in 
the  evening  while  oxygen  was  being  administered, 
but  later  they  withdrew.  A  little  after  one  A.  M. 
on  Friday,  the  thirtieth,  there  came  a  change.  The 
heart  could  not  stand  the  strain  and  he  ceased 
breathing. 

There  are  many,  who  live  more  idle  lives,  who 
would  complain  that  such  a  useful  man  should 
so  prematurely  consume  his  energies.  There  are 
some  who  knew  him  well  and  who  valued  his 
service  who  regret  that  he  should  have  under- 
taken a  journey  which  placed  so  heavy  a  tax  upon 
his  strength.  We  need  not  linger  over  their  per- 
plexities and  queries.  We  would  rather  use  his 
death  to  illustrate  his  character,  believing  that 
thus  we  may  give  a  better  answer  than  in  any  ar- 
gument that  could  be  formed. 

There  was  never  an  hour  from  the  time  when 

[250] 


THE   LAST   DAYS 

he  entered  business,  except  a  few  months  when  his 
career  was  interrupted  by  sickness,  during  which 
he  was  not  crowded  with  work.  He  always  faced 
more  tasks  than  it  seemed  possible  that  a  dozen 
men  could  accomplish.  Much  of  his  work  was  con- 
nected with  some  sort  of  leadership,  which  taxed 
his  physical  and  mental  powers  to  their  utmost. 
The  conduct  of  a  carpet  business  which  for  years 
had  the  patronage  of  the  wealthiest  families  of 
Boston  was  enough  to  engage  the  energies  of  most 
men.  He  was  a  man  with  a  growing  family  and 
did  not  fail  to  give  his  children  time  for  counsel 
and  play.  He  was  a  deacon  of  a  church  and  car- 
ried the  details  of  its  work,  knowing  almost  as 
much  as  the  minister  about  the  organization,  the 
cares  and  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  its  large 
membership. 

Yet  these  things  occupied  only  a  small  part  of 
his  time.  What  might  be  classed  as  public  duties 
consumed  by  far  the  larger  part,  especially  in  the 
last  half  of  his  life.  He  was  sought  probably  more 
than  any  other  man  in  Boston  to  preside  over  pub- 
lic meetings.  In  every  reform  movement  he  was 
one  of  the  leaders,  carrying  the  heaviest  burden 
and  placing  himself  where  he  bore  the  brunt  of 
the  battle.  Hours  of  his  time  were  given  to  the 
conduct  of  the  business  of  his  denomination,  and 
in  the  last  years  of  his  life  no  one,  except  the  reg- 
ular secretaries  of  the  American  Board,  gave 
more  time  and  energy  to  the  cause  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary work.  Yet  this  intense  and  continuous 
activity,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  a  settled 

[251] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

policy  of  his  life.  When,  in  his  young  manhood, 
he  was  sick  and  battling  for  life  he  promised  his 
God  that  if  he  should  recover  his  health  and  be 
given  strength  to  labor,  he  would  never  complain 
of  any  work  that  might  be  placed  upon  him.  It 
was  a  sacred  pledge  he  had  made  with  his  Creator 
and  it  was  never  broken.  He  felt  that  his  life  had 
been  saved  for  a  purpose.  No  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel ever  believed  more  truly  that  he  had  been 
called  to  preach  than  Mr.  Capen  believed  that  he 
had  been  called  to  a  great  work.  This  was  a  faith 
that  was  never  absent  from  him.  Others  might 
waste  their  time  and  refuse  burdens ;  he  dared  not. 
He  had  heard  a  voice  and  he  must  obey.  He  had 
seen  a  heavenly  vision  and  he  must  follow  it.  He 
had  heard  a  call  to  service  and  his  life,  crowded 
with  activities,  was  an  answer  to  the  call. 

While  sailing  from  Gibraltar  to  Naples  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  his  Bible  Class  which  embodied  the 
principle  of  his  life.  "We  saw  one  day  a  full- 
rigged  ship  running  before  the  wind  with  skysails 
set,  three  jibs,  the  spanker  set,  crowding  every 
rag  of  canvas  she  had.  She  signaled  us  to  get 
our  position  to  see  if  her  reckoning  was  correct. 
I  thought  it  was  a  pretty  good  illustration  of 
what  we  ought  to  do.  Crowding  every  sail  on  the 
voyage  of  life,  it  is  wise  to  take  counsel  of  God 
and  the  Bible  to  make  sure  we  are  right  and  not 
take  any  chances." 

Yet  he  was  never  careless  of  his  health.  He 
realized  that  his  body  was  frail,  that  it  could 
stand  the  strain  placed  upon  it  only  by  the  closest 

[252] 


THE   LAST   DAYS 

observance  of  the  laws  of  health.  No  man  was 
ever  more  regular  in  such  matters  as  deep 
breathing,  physical  exercises,  eating  nourishing 
food  and  in  the  right  proportion,  and  regularity 
of  sleep.  These  things  were  as  sacred  to  him  as 
his  prayers.  They  were  part  of  his  religious 
exercises.  His  whole  life  was  consecrated  to 
God,  body  as  well  as  soul,  to  be  used  in  a  glori- 
ous service.  He  was  as  anxious  not  to  expose  his 
body  to  that  which  would  weaken  it  as  he  was  not 
to  expose  his  soul  to  that  which  would  harm  it. 
On  his  last  journey  he  denied  himself  the  privi- 
lege of  seeing  many  mission  stations  because 
trips  to  them  would  have  involved  undue  expo- 
sure to  hot  sun  or  rain  or  unsanitary  conditions. 
Every  power  of  his  being  was  placed  at  the  serv- 
ice of  his  great  Master,  and  he  felt  it  a  sacred  obli- 
gation to  keep  himself  in  the  very  best  condition, 
so  that  his  service  might  be  most  effective. 

This  vigilance  over  his  physical  condition  was 
not  spasmodic,  as  it  is  in  the  lives  of  many  men.  It 
was  as  regular  as  his  devotions,  being  continued 
each  day  through  a  period  of  over  fifty  years. 
His  mother  died  of  tuberculosis  and  his  father 
also  had  the  disease,  though  his  death  came  from 
pneumonia.  His  brother  wasted  away  from  the 
same  terrible  plague,  and  when  Mr.  Capen  was  a 
young  man,  as  we  have  noticed,  he  had  tuberculo- 
sis of  the  knee.  Handicapped  by  such  an  inher- 
itance as  his,  fighting  from  youth  a  weak  body, 
and  in  young  manhood  suffering  wasting  disease, 
most  men  would  have  despaired  of  rendering 

[253] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS    CAPEN 

large  service.  But  his  consecration  of  will  knew 
no  such  word  as  defeat,  and  by  what  to  most  men 
would  have  been  laborious  observance  of  rules  of 
health  he  maintained  his  vigor,  and  lived,  accord- 
ing to  the  calendar,  over  seventy  years — but  by 
comparison  with  what  most  men  accomplish  he 
lived  twice  that  length  of  time. 

Indeed  it  was  a  part  of  his  gospel  that  health 
is  found  in  work,  and  he  often  declared  that  if 
those  men  and  women  who  are  running  to  the  va- 
rious cults  of  healing  would  lose  their  lives  in 
some  great  service  they  would  find  both  health 
and  happiness.  He  was  disgusted  with  that  atti- 
tude toward  life  that  is  embodied  in  the  phrase 
"Save  your  strength,"  and  his  own  life  ought  to 
do  much  toward  helping  to  make  the  disgust  more 
general.  The  common  idea  that  to  each  of  us  is 
given  a  certain  amount  of  strength  and  that  if  we 
overdraw  on  this  allotment  we  must  suffer  he  re- 
garded as  a  pernicious  doctrine.  He  knew  that 
most  human  ills  grow  out  of  idleness.  They 
spring  up  in  lives  which  are  not  absorbed  in  some 
great  purpose.  Life  grows  by  exercise  and  the 
more  work  done,  with  proper  precaution,  the  more 
will  life  increase.  The  arm  does  not  grow  flabby 
by  a  constant  swinging  of  the  hammer;  this  con- 
tinuous toil  strengthens  the  muscles.  No  black- 
smith was  ever  enfeebled  by  his  work  at  the  anvil. 

So  Mr.  Capen  believed  that  labor  of  any  kind 
is  the  greatest  source  of  health  and  he  proved  the 
truth  of  this  principle  by  his  life.  Beginning  life 
with  a  handicap,  inheriting  a  weak  body,  fighting 

[254] 


THE   LAST   DAYS 


for  his  life  against  disease,  he  grew  strong  in  serv- 
ice, becoming  more  efficient  with  the  passing 
years ;  for  in  his  later  life  he  was  remarkably  free 
from  those  diseases  which  come  to  old  age.  If 
there  is  any  one  thing  his  life  pre-eminently 
teaches  it  is  the  life-giving  power  of  severe,  con- 
tinuous and  well-managed  toil. 

There  were  two  elements  in  his  gospel  of  work 
which  saved  him  from  much  of  the  wear  and  tear 
which  creeps  into  many  busy  lives.  He  took  such 
a  deep  joy  in  his  work  that  no  part  of  it  became 
mechanical.  It  is  drudgery  that  kills.  When  our 
tasks  become  our  masters  and  stand  over  us  with 
slave-whips,  they  lacerate  our  nerves  and  deplete 
our  energy.  It  is  not  the  work  but  the  worry 
which  sends  men  to  early  graves.  Mr.  Capen  was 
deeply  interested  in  whatever  he  did.  His  work 
was  not  his  master,  but  his  friend.  His  nature 
was  not  divided — hands  in  one  place  and  heart  in 
another.  We  have  already  observed  that  when 
men  sought  him  for  counsel  they  went  from  his 
presence  not  only  feeling  that  they  had  been  wel- 
come, but  also  that  they  had  bestowed  a  compli- 
ment upon  him  in  seeking  him  out.  It  was  a  result 
of  the  overflowing  joy  he  felt  in  service.  Idleness 
would  have  shortened  his  life,  for  it  would  have 
taken  away  his  deepest  satisfaction.  Work  made 
his  life  blessed.  The  more  he  had  to  do,  the  more 
his  joy  was  increased. 

Added  to  this  fruit  of  the  Spirit  was  an  un- 
bounded optimism.  He  went  through  life  with  the 
confidence  that  his  cause  was  sure  to  rule  the 

[255] 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

world.  When  a  man  loses  heart  his  work  drags. 
Regrets  over  the  past  and  worries  concerning  the 
future  consume  his  energies.  He  parts  with  that 
spirit  which  makes  conquerors  and  wins  battles. 
Mr.  Capen  never  doubted  that  the  Kingdom  of 
God  would  cover  the  earth.  The  letters  he  wrote 
during  his  journey  through  India,  while  revealing 
the  sin,  the  ignorance  and  the  superstition  of  the 
land,  were  veritable  songs  of  triumph,  the  one 
theme  being  the  certainty  that  Christianity  would 
soon  rule  the  nations.  If  there  were  any  discour- 
aging conditions  confronting  his  work,  whatever 
they  might  be,  they  were  overshadowed  by  this 
ever-present  faith,  and  the  contagion  of  his  opti- 
mism touched  his  fellow  workers,  carrying  them 
through  to  victorious  results. 

When  Grover  Cleveland  was  President  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Capen,  with  other  gentlemen, 
visited  Washington  in  the  interest  of  the  North 
American  Indians.  After  listening  to  their  case, 
Mr.  Cleveland  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  have  had  a 
great  many  people  come  here  to  criticize,  but  you 
are  the  first  who  have  come  to  offer  assistance." 
Mr.  Capen  seldom  criticized.  He  would  not  per- 
mit himself  to  dwell  on  failures  and  mistakes.  He 
always  attacked  a  problem  on  its  positive  side. 
Not  one  ounce  of  his  energy  was  consumed  in 
regrets,  in  moaning  over  human  failures  or  sins. 
This  is  an  attitude  of  mind  that  leads  to  despair 
and  despair  always  means  weakness.  He  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  this  human  frailty  which 
cripples  Christian  workers.  He  had  a  Kingdom 

[256] 


THE   LAST   DAYS 

to  win.  He  was  confident  that  his  Captain  could 
not  be  defeated  and  he  threw  himself  into  the  con- 
flict with  the  certainty  of  success. 

He  not  only  did  his  work  without  the  usual  wear 
and  tear  that  shortens  life,  but  he  went  through 
life  with  a  companion  who  helped  greatly  to  make 
his  work  easy.  He  lived  in  constant  and  grateful 
recognition  of  this  fact  and  often  showed  his  ap- 
preciation by  relating  an  experience  in  the  life  of 
Mr.  Dwight  L.  Moody.  The  great  evangelist  at 
one  time  wanted  to  talk  to  a  woman  on  the  subject 
of  her  salvation,  but  she  held  in  her  arms  a  crying 
baby  and  serious  conversation  was  impossible. 
Finally,  one  of  the  Christian  workers,  standing 
near,  took  the  baby  and  gave  the  evangelist  an 
opportunity  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  Mr. 
Moody  used  to  say  that  the  unnamed  worker  who 
held  the  baby  did  as  much  toward  the  woman's 
salvation  as  he  had  done.  Mr.  Capen  would  tell 
the  story  and  would  declare  that  he  was  able  to 
accomplish  much  of  his  work  because  he  was  saved 
by  his  wife  from  many  of  the  worries  and  cares  of 
life.  She  knew  how  to  make  a  home  a  veritable 
haven  of  rest,  where  the  tired  body  could  find  re- 
cuperation and  the  active  mind  could  enter  into 
peace.  When  Mr.  Capen  came  from  his  busy  day 
and  entered  his  house,  he  was  always  welcomed  by 
loving  hearts,  a  wife  and  a  daughter,  who  studied 
to  save  him  from  every  possible  care,  who  antici- 
pated every  desire,  and,  so  far  as  was  reasonable, 
withheld  every  anxiety. 

Mr.  Capen  was  an  idealist  in  his  attitude  toward 


SAMUEL  BILLINGS   CAPEN 

life  in  general,  but  especially  in  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  family.  In  the  presence  of  women  he 
was  chivalry  incarnate.  He  was  never  heard  to 
indulge  in  any  of  those  pleasantries  which  mini- 
mize her  character  nor  to  participate  in  any  of 
those  supposed  bits  of  humor  savoring  of  sarcasm 
or  irony  which  men  often  pass  with  their  wives  or 
friends.  He  was  always  not  only  dignified  but 
reverent  before  womanhood,  and  this  attitude, 
while  always  a  part  of  his  nature,  was  intensified 
by  his  association  with  a  wife  who  commanded 
love  and  respect  and  who  made  a  home  in  which  a 
man  could  be  at  his  best  and  do  his  greatest  work. 
He  wanted  to  "die  in  the  harness."  His  wish 
was  granted  by  the  good  Father  he  had  always 
trusted.  And  could  there  have  been  a  better  spot 
for  him  to  cease  from  his  labors'?  His  life  will 
ever  be  associated  with  the  cause  of  missions.  No 
country  was  more  interesting  to  him  than  China. 
There  seems  a  peculiar  fitness  that  in  this  land  he 
should  have  lain  down  to  sleep.  When  the  news 
flashed  across  the  seas,  "Father  glorified,"  his 
closest  friends  felt  that  in  those  two  words  his 
biography  had  been  written.  He  had  lived  as  an 
inspiration  to  thousands.  He  had  stood  for  a 
faith  that  made  him  a  spiritual  example  to  laymen 
and  ministers.  His  life  had  been  spent  on  the 
earth  but  only  to  make  earth  a  heaven.  Now  in 
the  very  height  of  his  power,  in  intense  activity  in 
the  cause  he  loved  best,  he  went  home.  He  died 
in  the  battle.  His  cause  will  win. 

[258] 


A     000  672  226     8 


